


Only So Much

by fhsa_archivist



Category: Smallville
Genre: Adult Content, Alternate Universe, Spoilers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2004-07-31
Updated: 2004-07-31
Packaged: 2019-02-05 14:59:00
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 7
Words: 43,863
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12796875
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fhsa_archivist/pseuds/fhsa_archivist
Summary: A person can only take so much...





	1. Part 1

**Author's Note:**

> Note from Haven, the archivist: This story was originally archived at [Fandom Haven Story Archive (FHSA)](http://fanlore.org/wiki/Fandom_Haven_Story_Archive), was scheduled to shut down at the end of 2016. To preserve the archive, I began working with the OTW to transfer the stories to the AO3 as an Open Doors-approved project in November 2017. If you are this creator and the work hasn't transferred to your AO3 account, please contact me using the e-mail address on [Fandom Haven Story Archive collection profile](http://archiveofourown.org/collections/fhsa/profile).

Author's Note: This is what happens when I watch too many horror flicks. That and I'm just one deranged person. 

 

Acknowledgements: Many thanks to Hergerbabe who helped me with areas I had issues with. To Janey and Kylia who looked over my characterization and grammar to make sure this was as close to canon as a slashfic could get. To Kristina who caught certain details I had missed. And last but definitely not least, major super thanks go to Carrie who looked this fic over, added lots of detail I forgot to add, helped me come up with the title and made this thing as enjoyable and interesting as she could. I ::heart:: you all for helping me out with this story. Without you guys, this story wouldn't be what it is now. Thank you. 

 

*************************************************** 

 

Lana pulled the keys from out of her jacket pocket, dropping them in her haste to get the door unlocked. She bent down to retrieve them and turned to her companion. "Sorry, Lex. My fingers are a little numb from the cold." 

 

Lex smirked at her as he casually leaned against the building, watching her, sensing her nervousness. "No problem. I don't have anything pressing at the moment." 

 

As Lana finally got the door unlocked, she pulled it open and walked inside with Lex following behind her. She made her way towards the office to retrieve some paperwork she needed Lex's signature on when she heard Lex call out for her in a tone she had never heard come from him before. 

 

"Lex?" Lana asked, worry and concern radiating from that one word. Being distracted from shifted papers around on the desk, unable to find the forms she was looking for, she looked up and caught sight of the look on his face. "Lex, what is it? What's wrong?" 

 

Lex seemed to snap out of the daze he looked to have been in and suddenly grabbed hold of her arm. "Lana, get out of here." Fishing his cell phone from out of his jacket pocket, he handed it to her as he pushed her towards the front door. "Take this and go call the police." 

"What? Why?" Lana said, yanking herself free of his grasp as he tried to push her towards the door. 

 

Lex continued with his pushing, ignoring her protests. "Just do what I asked, alright?" 

 

Lana stopped in her tracks and raised an eyebrow at Lex. "Lex, would you please tell me what this is all about? What is going on?" When Lex just stared at her in silence, Lana sighed and pushed past him. 

 

When she caught sight of what Lex had been trying to hide from her, she let out a blood-curdling scream and fell onto her knees. Lex helped her back up onto her feet. Lana struggled her way out of Lex's grasp, hysterically shaking her head and trying to force the images out, she turned quickly away from the decapitated body of her Aunt Nell, running, still screaming, past Lex and out of the Talon. 

 

@>*~ 

 

Satisfaction; that's what it felt like. Wonderful satisfaction, though it hadn't lasted long. The screams had filled the coffee shop with a harmony all of their own as I surveyed the look on that bitch's face as she felt the quick, clean cut go through her entire neck right before her head fell to the tiled floor. Seconds later it was followed by a hand, a forearm, then from shoulder joint to elbow; the upper arm. As it struggled to cut through the bloody depth, the crack of bone gave me a rush of accomplishment; to free the joint from its anchor. Her twitching body had been quite a heady experience as it fell into a mess of torn flesh and fresh blood on the floor. They would pay. One by one, they would all pay. The things they said. The way they stare and point, laughing like it was all some big, cosmic joke. Well, they'd soon see that it was no laughing matter. Oh, yes, they will pay. 

 

@>*~ 

 

Clark sped towards the Talon, on his way to see Lana and Lex. About a block away he slowed down and began walking normally towards the commotion. He couldn't find either of his friends, so he switched into x-ray vision and scanned the crowd and building. He sighed in relief when he found his two friends sitting on stools at the bar. Pushing his way through the early morning crowd that had gathered, he made his way into the coffee shop. He stopped a few feet away from where Lex was sitting, trying to comfort a tearful Lana, who was relaying what she had witnessed at the scene to a police officer. 

 

Clark waited until the police officer had finished his questioning before making his way closer to Lex. Making his way to just a step behind the stools, Clark reached out a hand to both of his friends, laying a hand on Lana's upper back, rubbing it back and forth in a soothing manner. Lex seemed to have sensed Clark's presence, as he turned around and smiled tightly at him. Clark's comforting hand that reached out to Lex had brushed across the older man's back as he turned around, leaving it to rest on his shoulder where Clark gave a reassuring squeeze. "I heard what happened. Are you guys okay?" Clark asked, looking back and forth between his two friends. 

 

Lana nodded as she sniffed back her tears and then smiled lightly at Clark before getting up from her seat. "Lex, Clark, I'm going to go home now. There's a few things I'll need to do, take care of now that...that...Nell is no longer with us." She managed to take a deep breath as she turned, her head low as she made her way towards the Talon's front door and walked out. 

 

Clark followed after Lana's departure with his eyes until she went outside; he then turned his attention back to Lex. "How are you? I heard you were the one to find Nell first. Are you alright?" 

 

Lex sighed as he stood up from his seat at the bar, "Clark, I'm fine." Pushing lightly past his friend, he continued, "I'm a bit shaken up from what I saw, but it's nothing that a lot of good scotch won't take care of." Clark trailed behind Lex as he walked briskly towards the front door of the Talon. When he finally stopped in front of his Porsche, Clark wedged himself in Lex's way. "Clark?" 

"Lex," Clark addressed his friend firmly, "You just saw what I'm assured was gruesome to the extreme. Why don't you let me drive and I'll stay with you tonight?" Clark suggested and Lex's mouth opened to let out a protested excuse, but was halted by upheld hands and a serious face lined with concern, "I'm serious, Lex, let me drive you home. I don't think you'd make it there safely." 

Clark looked at his friend worriedly, leaning in to Lex's personal space, "Besides," he said low and quietly, making sure only Lex could hear the admittance of his outward appearance, "You're shaking." 

 

Lex's eyes showed a blue storm of rage before his face turned into a stony, emotionless mask and he turned his back on Clark, walking angrily around the car's front to get to the passenger side. Clark sighed and opened the car door and got inside, as did Lex. After turning the key in the ignition, Clark pulled out of the parking space in front of the coffee shop and headed to Lex's castle. 

 

@>*~ 

 

Clark slowed as he pulled up to the gate and entered his access code that Lex had given him months ago. As soon as the gate opened fully, Clark drove through and up the driveway leading to the castle. Clark eased on the breaks and brought the car to a stop, shifting it into park before turning the engine off and pulling the keys out of the ignition; he then looked over at Lex. Lex stayed still for a moment before inhaling a sharp breath and quickly got out of the car. Clark followed him, noting the wall of indifference that was Lex's expression. 

 

Lex had worked hard to allow himself not to hide his emotions while around Clark, but he had felt a bit hurt by Clark's observation of his weakness. Yes, the murder had been a shock to him; who wouldn't be shocked at seeing a decapitated body? Especially that of the Talon's co-owner, and Lana's Aunt. 

As they walked up the stairs, Clark reached out and lightly grabbed hold of Lex's right arm, stopping him in his tracks. Lex slowly turned his head to glare, first at the hand on his arm, and then at his friend. Clark realized he was crossing a line and let go of his hold on Lex's arm, but not before crossing his arms and tossing his own glare across the space between them. Clark had the sense to know they wouldn't get anywhere with a staring contest and switched back into caring mode, "Lex, what's wrong? Why do you look like you want to knock me down the stairs?" 

 

Lex sighed shortly and closed his eyes for a moment, then taking two deep calming breaths before answering, he said, "Clark, my father instilled in me not to show emotion. And that meant towards just about anything." Lex took another breath to keep himself calm and his voice steady, "You announcing my shaking out in the open, even in secrecy, made me feel as if the world around us stilled and was silenced by you screaming it at the top of your lungs. I know it sounds stupid, but that's how I felt." He shoved his hands into his pockets to stop the urge to fidget and looked off to the side to avoid Clark's gaze. 

 

Clark wrinkled his eyebrows together and looked thoughtfully at his best friend as he took in what Lex had said. "I'm sorry if I embarrassed you, Lex; I didn't mean to. I was just," Clark paused, thinking, "I was trying to get through to you, that you weren't okay enough to drive back on your own." Clark kept his eyes locked on Lex's face, even if it was turned away to avoid his eyes. Lex wasn't saying anything; Clark felt like he'd ruined something by saying anything at all, "Maybe I should just go." He gave one last concerned look at Lex, Clark's eyebrows were still furrowed with worry as he turned slowly, feeling embarrassed himself, and walked down the stairs, heading towards the main gate. Normally he'd have used his speed to get himself outside, but Lex was right behind him and he didn't feel like opening that can of worms just yet. 

 

Lex snapped out of his self-pity, finding it was becoming repulsive to his senses and looked up, about to open his mouth to call out to his friend, but all that came out was a weak sigh. He turned to the door and turned the knob, he sure knew how to get rid of his friends, now didn't he? Or to be exact, his only friend. Lex sighed once more, casting one last look at Clark's retreating back before he shut the door softly behind himself after crossing through the door way. 

 

@>*~ 

 

"Hey, Clark, you up here?" Chloe called as she made her way to the loft. "Clark?" She called again as she reached the last step. 

 

Clark looked towards the stairs at the sound of his friend's voice and shifted his attention. "Hey, Chloe," he smiled in greeting. "I'm here. What's up?" 

 

Chloe made her way over to Clark, a bright smile lighting up her face in return. "I heard what happened at the Talon and I was wondering if you could help me with something?" 

 

"Oh?" Clark asked skeptically as he walked over to the couch and sat down. 

"Yeah," she affirmed. "Well, I heard that Lex was the one to um, find the, uh, body," she paused, not feeling like this was the right way to go about asking, "And I was wondering if maybe you could ask him for me about maybe getting an unofficial interview with him? I can't really print an article in the Torch about the murder but maybe I could if I sold the story to the Ledger." 

 

Clark listened to her until she got about to the middle of her pitch before he had to sit back and stare in open-mouth disbelief. She couldn't have said what he thought she did, could she? Clark blinked, trying to fathom how she could be so light hearted about it all and focused back on what Chloe was saying when she seemed to be calling his name. In an attempt to stop her continued banter, he said, "Um, Chloe?" 

 

"Yeah?" She stopped and looked at him expectantly. 

 

"You know I usually try to help out all my friends where possible," Clark started out, trying to think of the proper way to say what he wanted to say about her little idea, "But what you're asking for is just wrong. I mean, it hasn't even been a full day since the episode in the Talon and you want to do what? An expose? On Lex, even?" Clark was exasperated and beginning to get angry, "I'm sorry, but I just can't allow myself to do what you've asked. It just wouldn't be right," Clark said, as he leaned forward, looking into Chloe's eyes, hoping she'd come back to reality and not living in steps ahead of everyone, trying to further her journalism future. 

 

Chloe frowned in resignation and walked over to the couch to sit down casually in the space next to her friend. "I guess you're right," she sighed softly, frowning as she took a moment to reflect on everything that really has happened. "I hope you didn't think I was only here for story rights or anything. I also came by to see if you heard anything from Lana. I tried talking to her earlier, but she kinda ran out of there in a hurry. I got the vague impression she didn't want to talk...to anyone." 

 

Clark sighed mentally and fought back the urge to roll his eyes. She'd only taken, what, not even a whole minute to think about the dearly departed before relapsing into her own world again. "Well, the only relative she had is dead," Clark said bluntly, hoping that would maybe jar her, "It's bad enough her parents died when she was three, but her Aunt too? I think I'd have reacted the same way, wouldn't you?" Clark finished and sat back against the couch, running a hand through his hair casually before crossing his arms across his chest and looking at Chloe. Why did he feel like saying 'I rest my case'? 

 

Chloe sighed, looking down at her hands; it'd gotten through to her. A silence fell across the barn loft for a few minutes, while the two friends were lost in their own thoughts. The quietness receded as the soft footsteps of Clark's mother ascended the stairs. "Clark? Are you up here, sweetie?" 

 

"Yeah, Mom, I'm up here," Clark replied, leaning forward and pushing himself up from the couch. Chloe did the same. 

 

"What are you guys doing up here?" Martha asked, looking at them both. 

 

Chloe walked over to Martha and smiled at her. "I was just asking Clark here if he could help me with something, and he did." Not so casually, she looked down at her wristwatch, gasped lightly at the time, "Well, it's getting pretty late and I have a bunch of work to do on the Torch. Good-bye, Missus Kent." She smiled at the older woman and made her way to the stairs. "See ya later, Clark," she called from the steps before walking down them and exiting the barn. 

 

Martha waited as Chloe left before turning back to face her son, "What was that about?" 

 

"Nothing important," Clark dismissed her question. "So, what's up? Something you needed?" Clark asked, smiling at his mother a little too cheerfully. 

 

"Just wanted to let you know dinner would be ready in about thirty minutes," Martha replied, seeing the mood he was in she couldn't really say much to him, she turned towards the stairs. She thought she'd try again, "Have you finished your chores?" 

 

"Yeah, Mom, and my homework too," Another smile and Martha didn't feel quite welcome there; he was trying to get her to leave. 

 

"That's great, Clark." Not knowing what else to say, but at least it was the truth, "Don't forget to wash up, okay?" 

 

Clark let out a light laugh, "Sure, Mom. I'll be there in a few." 

 

"Alright, hon," she decided to let it go for now, he was just having a hard time dealing with the death of someone close to him. He'll talk to us when he's ready, she thought. "See you in a bit then," she smiled somewhat tightly at him before heading down the stairs. 

 

@>*~ 

 

Chloe sat at her desk in the Torch office, typing up what she had managed to gather from witnesses at the Talon earlier that day. The rhythmic clicking stopped abruptly and she growled at the monitor. The sentence she had just entered made absolutely no sense at all. Bringing up a hand to cover her closed eyes, and laying it into the backspace key, she tried to think of a better way to word what one of the witnesses had told her when a sudden noise from out in the hallway startled her. 

 

She jerked her hand away from her eyes and looked around the room. Standing up slowly and quietly from her seat, Chloe walked to the door and looked out. Finding nothing there and almost about to turn back into the room when a figure stepped out in front of her. She shrieked in shock before recognizing the familiar outline of the person, she pulled back her hand and smacked the person on the arm. "Damnit! Don't scare me like that," she huffed out at her assailant, "I'm too young to die of a heart attack," she said, holding a hand over her chest while breathing heavily. 

 

"Sorry, Chloe," the person said, raising an eyebrow at her, gauging her mood and studying her for a moment. 

 

"Whatever," she said tersely. "What do you want?" She asked in the same manner as she stalked back to her chair and defiant computer, trying to put the blame for her sudden lack in literacy on the machine. 

 

Stalking in just the same aggressive stance behind her to her chair, the person paused and leaned down, hands on her shoulders. "Would you like to know how Nell died?" Whispered harshly into her ear, the eerily cold breath feeling as if it was penetrating her brain, making it pause. 

 

Chloe froze, her brain once again betraying her, forcing her to stop typing. She frowned slightly, trying to regain coherent thought, not sure what it was she really heard. "What?" She asked so eloquently before a sharp pain exploded at the back of her head and she slumped forward. Before unconsciousness could claim her, she felt herself being propelled towards the monitor, letting out a scream as the glass shattered upon impact, her forehead ripped open before the shards of glass, cutting and shredding her face and eyes. 

 

@>*~ 

 

It must have been fated to happen this way. The thrill of bashing that chair across the back of the blonde's head had been almost orgasmic in it's own way. The way the impact was hard enough and angled in just the right way to splinter the wood into pieces. The pleasure that raced through my every nerve as she released that agonizing scream into the air before it was silenced. Oh, it had really been worth the risk of being caught. The smell of the blood, thick and copper tinged, oozing in thick slow trickles from her face. Seeing it drip out of that snarky little whore made the task that much sweeter. There were still others. Yes. The others. They must not be allowed to wallow in their happy, perfect lives. They are everywhere now, I can't keep running away from their constant pointing and laughing. They all have to be taken care of. But if they find out and put an end to this fun I'm finally having... No, no. Can't get too carried away. It must be done slowly, extremely careful and precise. No one can take it away from me now, and it will be done slowly, oh, so slowly. 

 

@>*~ 

 

"Clark!" 

 

Clark turned at the sound of his name being called and his eyes scanned through the gathering of their peers before he caught sight of Pete standing a few feet away, waving at him. Clark smiled and made his way through the throng before reaching Pete, then his expression changed, he frowned, "What's wrong?" 

 

"Hey, man, have you seen Chloe lately?" Pete asked distractedly, scanning the crowd surrounding the front of their school. 

 

Clark raised an eyebrow and shook his head, "Nope, not since Saturday. I think she was going to get some work done." He shrugged, dismissing the subject of their absent friend. Maybe she was already inside, or at the front of the crowd. 

Pete sighed, "Well, where is she? With all these police cars around, you'd think she'd be here in the middle of it." Pete did a double take at all the vehicles, and frowned in their general direction, "What's with all the cops around anyway?" 

 

"I have no idea," Clark said and shrugged again, turning his attention back to the school, "But they don't seem to be letting us inside." 

 

Pete let out a bark of laugher, "Cool, maybe we'll get the day off then." He elbowed Clark and grinned at his friend. 

 

Clark looked at his friend seriously, "Come on, man. This could be serious." Pete rolled his eyes at him and shrugged, it seemed to have settled him down. Though before Clark could retort, the principal appeared on the steps of the school. 

 

"Students," he called out, "Students, may I have your attention please," he said more loudly this time, and waited for the crowd to quiet down. "School will not be held today..." There was an instinctive applause and cheering at the revelation at not having to attend classes for the day, as was expected, and the principal strived to calm them down once more, before continuing on a more somber note. "I have unfortunate news. There was an, uh, accident in one of the classrooms and, sadly, one of our students passed away." 

 

A hushed silence filtered throughout the crowd as the news that a fellow student had died; after they'd had a moment for it to sink in the silence was followed by a barrage of questions. The principal called for quiet once again, holding up his hands to attract their attention. As soon as he was their main focus, the principal continued, "I'm sorry, but the police are still investigating so I cannot give out any specifics about what happened. All of you please go back home. We will notify your parents of what happened," Even after he'd dismissed the students, questions were still shouted towards the school as the principal turned and entered the school, closing and locking the doors behind him to prevent the more persistent ones from entering. 

 

Pete frowned at the spot the principal had been standing moments ago before turning his attention to Clark. "Who do you think died?" He asked, his forehead wrinkled in thought. 

 

"I don't know, Pete," Clark started as he began to turn away from the school, "But I have a bad feeling about this," Clark finished, a frown creasing his eyebrows at the thought of one of their friends having passed on. Pete gave him a curious look before following his friend away from the school. 

 

@>*~ 

 

Finally finished with being bombarded with gifts of food given in sympathy for her loss, Missus Carlson had shooed Lana off to her room after handing her a mug of hot chocolate. Missus Carlson had been Nell's closest friend and Lana liked her, but she could be a bit overwhelming at times. Lana took a sip of her hot chocolate as she flipped a page of the book she had laid open in her lap. She was still shaken up over the recent events that'd taken place only a few short days ago, but she understood that as terrible as it was, life went on. She almost spilled her drink when the sudden chime of the doorbell startled her. 

 

Lana cupped the mug for a moment, taking another drink as she steeled her nerves to face another well-wisher. She set her drink down and set the book aside, before getting up and checking herself in the mirror before exiting her room. Missus Carlson, Lana saw, was already at the door, greeting the visitor and as she opened the door wider to accept the person, Lana sighed in relief when she saw the familiar face. Reaching the bottom of the stairs, with a little chuckle to herself for swearing she was going to get rid of this one before she had to sit through another half hour with someone trying to make her feel better, she said, "Whitney, what you are you doing here? I thought you were still overseas?" 

 

Whitney smiled lightly at his ex-girlfriend; "I was on leave, visiting my mother when I heard what happened to Nell. I thought I'd give you a couple of days to settle a bit before just showing up." He looked a bit uncomfortable but she could see how much he really did care. 

 

Lana stepped over to him and into the comforting embrace he offered her, knowing she could use it from someone who really meant it right now. After a moment, she pulled back, still with his arms loosely around her back. Lana had her hands on his biceps, eyeing her ex with slight confusion, she asked, "When did you get back?" 

 

"Um, Thursday. I don't really remember since I was more focused on seeing my mom. Why?" Whitney replied with a frown of his own, seeing the look in her eyes and the tone of her voice. 

 

Lana blinked, trying to clear her mind as she looked over her ex once more before mentally shrugging it off. She and Whitney had been going out for years and her aunt had actually liked him, it made sense that he'd come visit her, especially after what had happened. Lana took safety in Whitney's arms again, only briefly because she could see Missus Carlson out of the corner of her eye, watching them. 

 

@>*~ 

 

Pete was still following Clark, a few steps behind. "So, where are we going?" He called ahead to Clark, jogging a few steps to catch up to his side. 

 

"I want to see Chloe and make sure she's alright," Clark replied as he continued walking. Pete seemed satisfied with that response and continued trailing along side of Clark to their friend's house. 

 

Once they got to Chloe's house, they made their way up the path and climbed the steps up to the door. Clark looked at Pete and they both looked a bit worried. Taking a deep breath to steady himself, Clark reached his hand up and pushed the button to sound the doorbell inside. 

 

They waited outside of the Sullivan's house for what seemed like hours to them when in all actuality it was only just past thirty seconds. When Chloe's father finally opened the door, Pete creased his eyebrows in concern at the haggard way he appeared. Clearing his throat, Pete stepped forward an inch, "Mister Sullivan? Is Chloe in? May we see her?" 

 

Gabe Sullivan stared at Pete sympathetically before clearing his throat in an attempt to apply some authority to the situation, "Didn't anyone t...tell you boys?" When they both shook their heads, Gabe took a deep breath and went on, wiping at the sudden tears that began to sting his eyes. "Chloe was ki...she died a couple of days ago. They found her in...in the Torch's office." Pete's mouth opened in shock and he tried to find the words he wanted, but at such a loss, he began to back away from the Sullivan's front door, almost falling down the steps. Clark barely registered his friend's reaction to the startling news as he blinked the newfound tears from his eyes. 

 

"Mi...Mister Sullivan?" Clark said shakily, "I'm so...sorry for your loss. Chloe was a very good friend and we'll miss her." With his few words of respect towards his friend, Clark moved forward and looked Chloe's father in the eye, "If there's anything we can do...? " He left his question open ended. 

 

Gabe shook his head, smiling softly at Clark's offer. "I appreciate the gesture, Clark, but there's nothing you can do. Go home to your parents." He looked to be under even more stress than he had been when he first opened the door. Clark watched sadly as his late friend's father shut the door behind him, dismissing the boys in a rather rude manner, but they could hardly blame him. 

 

"Oh, God," Pete's voice invaded Clark's thoughts, bringing him back to the present. "Oh, my God," Pete continued to repeat the words to himself in shock. He had indeed stumbled in his attempt to run away from Gabe's words, sitting on the ground, slightly shaking back and forth with his arms crossed tight over his chest. Without even turning, Pete addressed Clark, "Man, I gotta go home," he said over his shoulder as he scrambled onto his feet and walked quickly back down the path and turned, making his way home, leaving Clark once again alone with his thoughts. 

 

@>*~ 

 

Lex took a sip of water as he walked down the hall towards his office; he could already hear his father's voice, but wasn't sure who he was addressing so harshly. He stood in the doorway listening to his father barking orders to some guy over the speakerphone. 

 

"I don't care how you do it, just do it. You know the consequences of failure," Lionel bellowed out to the poor schmoe on the other end of the line. 

 

"Yes, Mister Luthor," the man on the other end replied, his voice sounding rather hurt filled before hanging up. 

 

Lionel seemed pleased with the reply as he leaned back in the chair and smirked to himself. Assuming his father was finished for the time being, Lex walked into the office and took a seat on the couch. Lionel heard the faint footsteps, recognized them as Lex's and raised his head when he heard the sound of the couch being sat on. "Lex, son, is that you?" 

 

"Yes, Dad," Lex said a slight bit petulantly, and rolled his eyes for the hell of it. "It's me. Was that Joe Hansan you were yelling at?" He asked with disinterest, but he might as well talk about something to draw his father's attention away from picking at something about Lex's life. 

 

Lionel turned his head in the direction of his son's voice, "Yes. That damn man doesn't know how to do a thing right." 

 

"Then why do you keep him around?" Lex asked idly, feeling rather bored, taking another drink of water from his bottle. 

 

"He amuses me," Lionel said shortly. "And God knows I could use the laughs," he finished as he reached into his pocket and pulled his sunglasses out. 

 

Lex rolled his eyes once again and placed his bottle on the coffee table. Before he could respond to his father, Enrique knocked lightly on the open door. "Sir?" 

"Yes?" Both Luthors questioned simultaneously. Lex raised an eyebrow at his father, wondering when he'd stop thinking he made the rules around here. Even after telling him straight out that he'd not be turning Lex's home upside down just to fit his needs, it still hadn't actually sunk in completely. 

 

Enrique raised an eyebrow, it was in amusement at the both of them, but centered his attention on Lex. "Mister Kent is here to see you, Sir." 

 

Lex's eyebrows went up in surprise at the announcement before standing up from the couch, crossing the room to his attendant and quietly issuing his command, "Show him to the living room and tell him I'll join him in just a moment." 

 

Enrique nodded, noting the avoidance of alerting Lionel as to where they were going to be. "Very good, Sir," he nodded to Lex before leaving the room. 

"Lex," Lionel said, his interest peaked, "I didn't know you had dealings with Jonathan Kent." 

 

Lex sighed softly and turned to regard his father, "I don't." Lionel looked rather irritated at having heard his son's hushed words and not being able to make them out, apparently that sense hadn't heightened yet, what with the loss of another. With his terse response he turned his back to his father and made his way towards the open door. Lex smiled as he crossed the threshold of his office, leaving his father in confused silence. 

 

@>*~ 

 

Clark paced back and forth across the room, waiting for his friend to show. He couldn't quite grasp what he'd found out about Chloe. She had been one of his closest friends, someone whom he could tell just about anything to. Well, except his only closely guarded secret, that is. He continued his pacing, becoming worried about where Lex was. What if Lex had been murdered? How would he feel then? Clark began to feel restless, and he clasped his hands together. Their frantic need to move developed into Clark starting to wring his hands together every so often. A throat being cleared from the vicinity of the door startled him and he looked up suddenly. "Hey," he managed after a second, trying to get his thoughts to slow down, feeling relieved that Lex was still alive...so far. 

Lex ventured further into the living room, watching Clark closely, his brow furrowing in concentration as he tried to single out the problem just going by Clark's body language, the way he was fiddling with his hands. "Everything alright, Clark?" He asked in concern as he made his way closer to his friend. 

"No," Clark sighed, returning to the familiar pacing he had been doing. Back and forth across the room once again, "There was another murder..." 

 

"What?" Almost not surprised, but still shocked into disbelief, Lex stopped and tried to think of who it could have been this time. 

 

"We, me and Pete, went to school this morning and found it surrounded with police," Clark began, he was starting to shake, "We didn't know what had happened until the principal came out and told us," Clark stopped for the moment, having to wipe away the sudden tears that had sprung from his eyes and trailed down his cheeks. 

 

Lex saw Clark become unsteady on his feet and began to close the distance between them. Reaching Clark and placing his hands onto his friend's shoulders to keep him still, "What happened after that?" Lex asked softly, looking up at Clark with a caring and concerned expression on his face. 

 

Clark sniffed back some of the tears. Glad Lex was there for him now, he raised his head to look into the clear blue eyes, finding strength there, "He wasn't able to tell us who h...had died, just that someone did, and that we were sent home from school for today..." 

 

Just now realizing that it was early in the day, Lex rubbed Clark's shoulders, trying to give him some comfort. He was glad the other day hadn't made his only friend run away from him, Lex was glad Clark came to him when he was feeling this way. "And?" Lex knew, as he pressed his friend for more information, that he may not be ready to, but he at least wanted to know what was really bothering Clark. Just the knowledge of another murder wouldn't have decreased his emotional stability this much, unless it was someone close. 

 

"A...and we didn't see Chloe at school," Clark started again, Lex's eyes closed, and he almost flinched, knowing then who had been the victim. "So, we went to her house to check on her. Th...that's when her father told us th...that Chloe," Clark had to stop to regain his composure before continuing, taking a deep breath which hitched and he sobbed openly, sniffling. "Was the one who had been k...died," Clark finished, tears of sorrow began freely streaming down his face as Lex pulled him into a hug, rubbing a hand in slow circular motions as Clark sobbed into his shoulder. 

 

Once Clark's sobs had evened out and eventually stopped altogether, he lifted his heavy head from Lex's shoulder, looking up into his friend's eyes. Clark hadn't realized that Lex had moved them from standing in the middle of the room to sitting down together on the couch, Clark almost sitting in his friend's lap. Lex slowly unclasped his hands from around Clark and moved a hand to the teen's face to wipe at a last tear trailing down with his thumb. 

 

The thumb lingered there, smoothing the tear tracks away and Clark's lips parted softly to let out a soft sigh as he sat enjoying his friend's gentle touch on his cheek. Clark looked into uncertain blue eyes that were asking, pleading with him silently to let Lex proceed. Clark smiled his approval, and closing his eyes as he felt the air around him shift as Lex's face moved to be only millimeters away from his own. 

 

Lex closed the gap between them as he placed, first, a chaste kiss onto his friend's slightly parted lips. Clark's hands found purchase running over Lex's back as the kiss began to intensify. Lips parted, tongues met and familiarized themselves to one another as the two young men sought friendship and reassurance in each other's arms. Breathless, Lex pulled back for air, smiling at the dazed look on Clark's face. 

 

Clark blinked lazily as he looked back into Lex's soft blue eyes before beginning to lean into Lex for more, whimpering quietly when Lex shook his head as he pulled back from him. "No, Clark," he said, "You're in no condition for us to go any further than a little kissing." Clark pouted, a few remaining tears sliding down his cheeks. Lex sighed at the look he was receiving and leaned forward, resting his forehead gently against Clark's. "I know, but," he sighed again, "Not right now, alright?" 

 

Lex's head was involuntarily wobbled up and down as Clark nodded his head. They pulled back with a smile and Lex shifted on the couch, making it more comfortable for Clark to lean back against him. Clark watched Lex lay back and he sighed, staying where he was until Lex leaned forward to draw him back by an arm around Clark's shoulder. Clark followed unresisting this time and settled himself down to rest his head against Lex's shoulder. Clark sighed happily as he snuggled down into the safety and comfort of Lex's embrace, closing his eyes to the stress of the past few days, and letting go. Lex closed his arms around Clark's body again as they both drifted into a sound sleep.


	2. Part 2

Martha hummed tunelessly to herself as she removed a pie from the oven. The sweet and spicy smell of the apple pie she'd just finished baking swirled around the room, covering everything in the kitchen with its scent. Taking her oven mitts off, she jumped back in surprise as her husband opened the screen door and walked inside. 

 

"Mmm," Jonathan began, sniffing the air appreciatively, "It smells wonderful in here." Looking at his wife, Jonathan raised an eyebrow, "Something wrong?" 

Martha sighed, placing the oven mitts onto the kitchen table. "Have you noticed anything...strange about the way Clark has been acting?" She asked, pulling out a chair from the table and taking a seat. 

 

"No," he began, coming up behind his wife to place his hands onto her shoulders. "But we can't expect Clark to act like his old self. One of his closest friends was murdered," Jonathan finished, giving his wife's shoulders a comforting squeeze. 

 

"I know. I'm just worried about him," Martha sighed, placing a hand on one of her husband's. "Do you think he'll be alright?" 

 

Jonathan leaned over to kiss the top of his wife's head. "He'll need some time to grieve, but I'm sure he'll be just fine." 

 

"I hope you're right," Martha replied as she tilted her head back to look up at her husband. A thought came to her mind and she frowned, her eyebrows pushed together in concentration, "Do you know where he is? The principal called about two hours ago and I haven't seen Clark since this morning." 

 

Jonathan straightened up and moved away from his wife to pull out his own chair to sit in. "He's probably at Pete's house or running through the cornfields. I'm sure he's fine." Martha smiled lightly at Jonathan in response, hoping that he was right and her baby would be fine. 

 

@>*~ 

 

Lionel sighed and leaned back in his chair, frustrated. Lex had left to talk to whichever one of the Kents that had stopped by, and that had been an hour or two ago. Lionel was bored out of his skull. His secretary was out doing work for him, that no good manservant, Enrique, was prowling the castle. He really hated being bored, especially since he felt like everyone was pitying him, which just would not do. 

 

Placing his cane in front of him, he got up from his chair, using the cane and his left hand to feel around and make sure he didn't bump into anything or trip. That definitely wouldn't be good, he'd make a fool out of himself and be at the mercy of whoever happened to find him if he didn't make it back up on his feet himself. Running his cane back and forth across the floor, he walked slowly through the doorway he came upon and ventured into the hallway there. The only thing he could make out from his son's conversation with Enrique was they would be in the living room. 

 

Having memorized the castle's floor plans, Lionel proceeded to slowly, but surely, make his way to where the living room was situated. He stopped walking just as he got a step away from the doorway, straining to hear what sounded like faint murmuring. Smirking to himself, Lionel made a lot of noise as he continued through the doorway and into the living room. Of course, storming through the doors could never be the same without his sight, but this would do. "Lex, that you, son?" 

 

Lionel turned his head towards where he last remembered the couch being as he heard a loud thud before Lex began trying to chastise him. "Dad!" Lex said as he rolled over and sat up, reaching a hand down to Clark, resting it on his shoulder, "I hate it when you do that," he continued, throwing a glare up at his father, which was pointless because Lionel couldn't see it anyway, but at least it gave Lex the satisfaction of doing it. "Clark, are you alright?" 

 

The one Lex had addressed as Clark, replied, "Yeah, I'm alright." The voice sounded to be coming from a lower position than Lex seemed to be at, giving Lionel ideas he really didn't need running through his mind.

 

"Clark is it?" Lionel said impertinently as he made his way closer to the sound of his son's voice. "Does Jonathan know you're here with my son?" He continued, stopping a few feet away from, by his judgment, the voices and standing his hands on top of his cane, hoping he was towering over the lowered figures in the room. 

 

Clark flushed, getting to his feet quickly, Lex's hand slid off of his shoulder as he stood, pulling it away. "Um, no, Sir. He doesn't. I was on my way out, anyway," he replied as he looked back at Lex and frowned before making his way towards the open doorway. 

 

Lex sighed tightly and stood up, the sound of the material, leather, on the couch shifting gave Lionel almost a perfect picture in his mind of what the two had been doing. Lex stood behind Clark and replaced his hand comfortingly on his shoulder, just before the teen made for the door. Lex followed after his friend, glaring once more at his father over his shoulder. "Clark," Lex called, Clark's footsteps stopped in the hall, listening to his friend's voice, "Let me walk you to the door." 

 

Lionel was right behind them the whole way as the two boys made their way towards the front door. He knew they probably wanted to say good-bye privately, but he was having way too much fun harassing his son to stop now. Ah, just like the good old days when he could actually see the look on Lex's face after his privacy had been rudely stepped in on. 

 

Irritated by the sound of shuffling and the cane raking back and forth across the floor, Lex looked behind, over his shoulder, to see his father following them to the door. Sighing to himself, he ignored the blundering oaf and continued after his friend, who'd continued down the hall, even after he'd heard Lex's request. "Clark, wait." Clark turned to see what his friend wanted. 

 

"I was thinking," Lex said, gently reaching out to rest a hand on Clark's arm, "Why don't we have a kind of dinner party here tomorrow night. Feel free to invite your friends and parents, but just your close friends. I want this to be semi-private. You know, maybe make everyone feel a bit better over everything that's happened lately." Lex suggested, smiling lightly as he rubbed his hand over Clark's upper arm. 

 

Clark smiled widely at Lex before stepping forward, moving into his personal space, and wrapping his arms around his friend, "That'd be great, Lex. I'll have to ask my parents for permission, but I don't think they'd mind," Clark was interrupted by a snort of amusement from Lionel. He could hear the way their movement stopped and joined all at once, knowing they were taking advantage of his disadvantage. 

 

Lex glared at his father once again before turning back to Clark, "That's fine. Give me a call if you can or can't come over. That way I can let Missus Stansberry know how many to expect." Clark smiled brightly at his friend before placing a quick chaste kiss onto his lips and walking out. Lionel attempted to roll his eyes behind his sun glasses and sighed when it turned out he couldn't control them very well, making his head roll instead. Lex was already looking at him and smirked at the humorous display before turning his body to face his father. They had what came closest to a staring contest before Lionel turned and gestured for Lex to pass him down the hall and back into the house. 

 

@>*~ 

 

Once Clark was far enough away from the castle, he broke into super speed and headed towards his house. He had a sudden urge to skip while he ran, but going as fast as he was, he wasn't sure if he would end up eating dirt or not. As soon as he got to the edge of the Kent's property, he broke out of his run long enough to x-ray through all of the structures before finally finding his parents in the house. Smiling, he continued on towards his house once more, stopping only a foot in front of the kitchen table, making his mother jump at his abrupt appearance. 

 

Jonathan stood from his seat and walked over behind his wife, laying his hands onto her shoulders, soothing her after being startled. "Where were you?" Jonathan asked, the harsh tone of his voice stung into Clark, "The principal called earlier about what happened and we were expecting you to be home." Jonathan's eyebrows brought themselves together, looking sternly at his son. 

Clark moved back instinctively at being addressed so directly by his parents. "I went over to see Lex and I fell asleep on his couch," Clark saw the look on his father's face when he'd merely mentioned Lex's name. Jonathan's expression darkened when Clark revealed that he'd fallen asleep on that Luthor's couch. "I would have called you guys, but I didn't think I'd be over there so long." Clark looked a bit nervous, now, as to what his parents' reaction would be, hoping his mother would step in any time now. 

 

Martha turned her head back to see her husband's expression. Jonathan's anger subsided as he looked down into his wife's eyes, having felt her turn her head. She knew he was upset about Clark having gone to see Lex, but the eldest Kent surely would have changed his opinion on his son's friend, especially with what he had done to save Jonathan's life. Jonathan sighed as he looked back up to Clark, "Son, I don't care that you were visiting Lex, just next time let us know if you plan on going somewhere other then here. We thought you might have been seeing Pete or something." 

 

Clark visibly relaxed and smiled at his parents. "Thanks, Dad," he began as he started turning away from the table, about to head into the kitchen for a drink, "Oh!" Clark continued, snapping his fingers as he suddenly remembered what he and Lex had been discussing earlier. "Lex invited us over to his place for dinner tomorrow night. I told him I'd have to talk it over with you first," Clark gestured to his parents, "And he said that was cool, just as long as I let him know. So, can we?" Clark asked, putting on his best smile, watching his parents expectantly for an answer. 

 

Martha blinked, almost shaking her head to clear her thoughts before centering back on what her son had said, and thinking of the nice gesture Lex had made. Jonathan simply pursed his lips, making him look like he had eaten something sour. Martha looked up once more, silently asking for Jonathan's opinion. He sighed and relented, smiling tightly back at his wife. Taking the smile as an affirmation, Martha smiled and nodded her head, "Sure, we'll be there." 

 

Clark smiled brightly at both his parents and refrained from whooping for joy, instead he walked over to them and wrapped his arms around each one, in turn, giving them a big hug. "This is gonna be so cool!" He enthused, practically vibrating with happiness. Martha and Jonathan looked on at Clark and his cheeks that threatened to split from the smile he was inflicting on them, glad that Clark was starting to cheer up, even with the recent bad news. 

 

Martha reached a hand up to her shoulder and laid it on top of Jonathan's, smiling up at her husband again, also glad his mood had improved at the sight of a happy child, before she thought of something. "Did he say what time he wanted us there by?" She asked, looking to Clark for an answer. 

 

Clark's eyebrows pulled together slightly as he tried to remember if Lex had mentioned a time, "I don't think he said a time exactly, but I'll ask him. I'm going to go call him now and then call everyone else," he said, turning and smiling all the way to the kitchen phone. Both elder Kents couldn't hold back their happy, smiling expressions at seeing their son literally jiggling with his own happiness. 

 

@>*~ 

 

"Here you go, Lana." 

 

Lana shifted her attention from her ex-boyfriend to look up at Missus Carlson. "Thank you," she said as she accepted the plate of cookies from her Aunt's friend. Missus Carlson smiled what she thought would be a comforting smile before turning and walking back into the kitchen. Rolling her eyes, Lana placed the plate onto the coffee table and turned back to Whitney. 

 

Whitney grinned knowingly, "I take it you're not too thrilled to have her here?" He said, reaching for a cookie. 

 

"It's not that," Lana began, not knowing how to word her feelings on the subject, "She's...well, she's here for me, you know? And I'm happy to have someone with me, but," she paused, sighing in frustration, "She's constantly fussing over me like any second now I'll break. I mean, she's constantly shoving food at me, or hovering over me just waiting to wipe my nose or something." Whitney let out a snort of unsuppressed laughter. "It's not funny," Lana said, almost pouting. 

 

"I'm sorry," Whitney said, forcing a straight face, trying to restrain the urge to laugh himself silly. "I guess she thinks eating will help with the grief." 

 

"Oh, great," Lana began, throwing her hands up into the air. "Just what I need. Anymore eating and I'll be more worried about trying to lose weight." 

 

Whitney grinned. "At least you'll be doing something different," he said as he finally let the laughter bubbling up inside him come out. 

 

Lana mock frowned at her ex and opened her mouth to respond, but before she could, the phone rang, interrupting her. Lana got up from the couch and made her way to the stairs, she moved her hand to pick it up, but when only two inches away, it suddenly stopped ringing. Frowning in confusion, she eyed the phone before turning back towards the couch. She shouldn't have been surprised when Missus Carlson came out of the kitchen and announced the phone call had been for her before retreating back into the kitchen. 

 

Sighing, Lana reached back for the phone and picked it up. Covering the mouthpiece before she yelled back to the kitchen, "I got it!" Clearing her throat, she said into the receiver, "Hello?" 

 

"Lana! How are you feeling? Who was that that answered the phone?" 

 

"Clark?" She asked, unsure of who she was talking to. It sounded like Clark, though. 

 

"Yup," Clark confirmed, waiting for Lana to answer his questions. 

 

"Hey, Clark. I'm fine, I guess. Still not all there considering what all has happened, but I'm slowly getting back into the normal day to day things. And that was Missus Carlson, my aunt's best friend. So, what'd you want?" Lana asked as she began twirling the phone cord around her finger. Turning around to lean against the table, she looked over to the couch to see Whitney watching her as he ate more cookies. 

 

"Well, with everything that's been happening," Clark started, explaining his reason for the call, "Me and Lex decided to have everyone over at his place tomorrow night for dinner." As Lana listened to Clark on the other end of the line, she watched Whitney get progressively bored and it looked like he felt out of place. 

 

Lana quirked an eyebrow, "Tomorrow night? Why...hold on one second, Clark," she said, placing her hand over the receiver. Whitney had gotten up from the couch and paced around the coffee table a few times before finally giving a short wave and a sympathetic look to Lana, he made for the door out of the house. "Whitney, wait. Clark's inviting me over for dinner. If it's alright with him, would you like to come with me?" 

 

Whitney paused on his way to the door, turning back to smile lightly at his ex, "Sure. If Clark says it's cool then I'd be happy to go." He didn't feel so left out anymore. Sure, he could go with Lana, one last thing before he had to go back to his training with the marines. 

 

Lana smiled at Whitney before addressing the phone again. "Hey, Clark, I'd love to go over tomorrow night. Whitney's here, would it be alright if he came along with me?" Whitney felt at ease now that he wasn't being left out of everything since he'd left. Lana was still happy with him and it looked like Clark and Lana were getting along well. 

 

"Sure! I'll give Lex a call and let him know to expect the both of you." There was a pause as Clark seemed to be speaking to someone else. "Hey, Lana, I have to go. Tell Whitney I said hi and that I'll see you guys at Lex's tomorrow. Bye, Lana." 

 

"Bye, Clark," hearing the soft click as Clark disconnected the call, she sighed and hung up the phone. She smiled tightly and addressed Whitney, "Now, all I have to do is talk Missus Carlson into letting me go," she sighed as she made her way back to the couch and sat down heavily on it. 

 

@>*~ 

 

Lex looked curiously around the table with a slightly raised eyebrow at all the people Clark had invited. Well, at least it wasn't the whole school, he thought with a quiet laugh, the corner of his mouth twitched up a bit. Lex sat back a bit in his chair, tilting to his left, smiling at Clark's expression. He seemed to be happy with everything so far. Hell, he was practically bouncing in his chair as he talked animatedly with Lana, who was to Clark's left. 

 

Lana smiled politely at Clark as he continued on with how Lex was great with putting together the dinner, how he hoped she was okay with Whitney coming to see her, if she was dealing with Nell's death okay. Lana sighed quietly to herself, not really wanting to drag up those feelings, but humoring Clark as he was trying to be nice and up beat. She glanced across the table to see Whitney shift uncomfortably in his chair; it didn't look like he was enjoying being seated right next to Mister Luthor. She couldn't blame him, though, he gave her the willies sometimes, too. 

 

Lionel pursed his lips together and refrained himself from putting the Fordman boy down, or spurting out any remarks about what he could over hear the others at the table chattering mindlessly about. Lionel just wished the boy would quit shifting and jiggling in his chair; he wasn't going to bite! It made Lionel feel like yelling 'anchors away!' He tried to unsuccessfully shift away from the boy, to avoid being kicked in the shin. He'd definitely didn't want to have himself embarrassed in front of everyone, especially Jonathan and his damn platitudes. He would have glared at that stubborn Kent if he knew where the damn man was seated; he hadn't said too much since he'd sat down. Of course, even if Lionel did know where Jonathan was, he couldn't have pulled a very good glare off without making a fool of himself. He sighed and reached carefully for his wine glass. What he needed was to get plastered. 

 

Whitney shifted once again in his chair. It wasn't his fault, he needed to use the bathroom, but didn't know if it was proper etiquette to excuse himself before the meal had even been served. He was about to smile apologetically to Mister Luthor, but he remembered at the last second that he was blind, ducking his head in private embarrassment. He glanced across the table, watching as Missus Kent took a sip of her drink before directing her attention back to Mister Kent as they talked quietly between each other. Whitney shifted once again as his bladder screamed for attention. 

 

Jonathan gulped down his wine and angrily thumped it back on the table, glaring every so often at Lionel from across the table. Even blind, Lionel could make people nervous and agitated. Just look at poor Whitney, he kept fidgeting in his chair as he threw glances back at Jonathan. He felt bad for him, but couldn't help but be glad he wasn't the one stuck beside Lionel. Every time Martha would say something to him, he had to smile quickly and tell her quietly, and as politely as he could, that he was just tired. He knew she could see right through the lie because she'd given him a strange look before a carefully placed glance towards Lionel then looking back at her husband, daring him to say she was wrong. Jonathan rolled his eyes at himself and turned his head to look across the table at Pete. He felt bad for Pete, too. Jonathan knew he didn't like the Luthors anymore then he did himself, so when he caught the young boy's eye, he smiled reassuringly at him. Jonathan sighed and motioned for what's his name, the butler guy, to get him a refill on his wine. 

 

Martha felt like smacking her husband every time she caught him glaring at Lex. He'd tried to do something nice and helpful and heartfelt, and Jonathan still couldn't quite get over his dislike for either of the Luthors. She tried getting her husband to talk, but he didn't seem to be interested. He'd just smile at her and pat her hand, his smiles were strained and his hands tense. She decided he'd loosen up after getting a bit more wine in him, Martha shook her head and took another sip of her wine. It was actually pretty good. 

 

Pete had his head resting on his hand, leaning onto the table. So what if it was bad manners, but, hell, the food hadn't arrived yet, so it didn't really matter, did it? Pete looked bored as he stared across the table at Clark. He had agreed to come to the dinner party, since Clark had invited him, and he needed something to do to keep his thoughts away from Chloe. He closed his eyes as the thoughts of his dearly departed friend came surging back to the forefront of his mind, he had loved her but she hadn't been interested; there had been so much he had wanted to tell her but he had been too afraid. And besides, she had had a thing for Clark. Just for good measure, Pete glared at Clark before reaching for his glass of apple juice and drinking it in one swallow, hoping this would all be over soon. 

 

Clark felt like he was going to fall asleep right there at the table if Lana kept talking his ear off. Yes, he had asked how she was doing, but he had forgotten she liked going on and on about stuff when a simple answer would have been just fine. His face was getting almost tired with holding his smile in place, with one final effort, he smiled once more at Lana before dismissing her, as she turned to try and alleviate some of the pressure she saw in her ex as he sat, squirming, beside Lionel. Clark turned his attention towards Lex, waiting for their host to look up at him. Lex was watching his father in amusement, his lip quirked and he shook his head slightly at his father's appearance: uncomfortable and irritated. He only wondered when Lionel would have to let out his frustrations, and no doubt, ruin the party. Lex sighed and looked back to something reassuring, finding Clark looking up at him. Clark smiled when he saw Lex brighten at getting his attention, the quirk turning into a small smile. Yes, this had definitely been a good idea. 

 

As Missus Stansberry and a few of the small staff of servants carried platters of food into the room, there was a collective sigh around the table, everyone in attendance feeling relieved at the prospect of not having to talk. Having a full mouth was wonderful for that. Once the food was served, the chatter began to pick up again, this time a more group activity instead of each two people having an individual conversation. The noise level raised a bit and the sound of silverware clinking against plates filled the air. 

 

@>*~ 

 

A good idea, indeed. Lex sighed as he settled a hand over his face, shaking his head as his father continued ranting on about how Smallville, well, sucked. That Jonathan was a loser, who can't manage a business worth crap and should just work doing manual labor somewhere. That Clark was just plain weird, also, the teen received a curious falter in Lionel's voice as he was addressed, which Lex assumed he, and possibly Clark were the only ones who caught it. Lana needed a good lay, Pete needed to let bygones be bygones, and that Whitney would probably be sent home with a bullet in the ass after having gotten himself into an idiotic situation, and finally, Martha's talents could be best put to working in the city then feeding cows and playing with dirt. Of all he'd spouted off between his drinking, it seemed he only liked Martha the best out of them all, most likely because of her city background. 

 

Clark noted how Lionel pointedly avoided speaking about Lex in front of people. He was sure if Lionel had his sight, he'd be giving off glares in all directions, and maybe even staring directly at him. He squirmed, much like Whitney, thinking about that. Lionel was a bit pushy sometimes, and there were things he didn't need to push his way into in Clark's life. 

 

There were a few times Jonathan had started on his way, getting up from his chair with fork in hand, ready to throttle Lionel. Only saving their dinner party by the last second grab Martha would make, getting a hold of his arm and dragging him back down into his seat. Clark frowned at his father's actions and turned to look at Lex, pleading with his eyes for him to do something before his father did something rash. Lex mirrored the expression and took the hint. 

 

Lex pushed his chair back slightly, enough to stand up and cleared his throat loudly, getting everyone's attention, although Lionel had finished his sentence before sitting back arrogantly in his chair before he stopped talking and motioned for his son to continue. "Why don't we all take a break and let our food settle before dessert arrives?" Lex suggested, and Clark sighed, hearing the murmur or approval at his idea as everyone started to draw themselves away from the horrible turn the conversations had taken. 

 

Lionel had still continued on with his put downs as he listened to the guests getting up from the table, every so often pausing to take a sip of wine, making cracks at how they were all running away, how they couldn't take his comments. Lex made a mental note to never let his father drink so much at the next get-together, if there was ever another one. He didn't think too many people would return if Lionel was to be there again. 

 

Chairs were heard being pushed away from the dining table at several different intervals and the guests stood and alternately stretched and patted their full bellies. Well, the males did. The females just rolled their eyes and headed off towards the bathroom, Whitney running past to get there first, eager to drain his bladder. 

 

Lex raised his eyebrows at Clark, who was the last person, other than Lionel, still sitting at the table. He was taking in the scene of everyone around him beginning to mill around the room. Lex caught his eye and nodded nonchalantly in the direction of the stairs. Clark gave a confused look and shook his head slightly in confusion at his friend before he realized what Lex was not saying, as the young Luthor had smirked and indicated the stairs again and simply proceeded to make his way out of the room, Clark stood up from the table and followed after him, getting the hint. 

 

Lex held out a hand to Clark to stop him almost as they were crossing through the doorway. Turning to address his guests, "Everyone," getting their attention, "Please feel free to check out the castle while we wait for dessert to be served." After hearing what Lex had to say, they turned back to what they were doing and chose to exit the room in all directions, from the several doors exiting the room. Lex turned to face Clark again and smiled lightly before turning and leaving the room, Clark still following close behind. 

 

Since Lana, Martha and Whitney had left a little earlier, Pete decided to walk outside and see the garden. He needed some fresh air, anyway, and it's not like Clark was going to spend any time with him tonight; not with Lex around. Jonathan turned to give a scornful look to an indignant looking Lionel before wondering off to see the War Room; he'd heard it was quite an...interesting display, from Clark. Lionel listened to the departing footsteps from all around him and sighed in frustration as he summed up that he was the only one left in the room. Uncrossing his arms, he swayed on his feet as he got up from the table, looking like a sailor on a hurricane pummeled ship. 

 

@>*~ 

 

"Lana," Martha called from a few steps behind her son's friend, "How are you and Whitney getting along? I heard from Clark that you two had broken up a while ago," Martha said as she caught up to Lana. The two of them began light chitchat as they made their way through the castle, toward one of its many bathrooms. 

Lana sighed, looking over to Martha. She was glad she could turn to Clark's mother for things if she needed to; she was always understanding and helpful. "It's actually been going well," she admitted, "At first he didn't want to have anything to do with me, seeing as I had broken his heart, but after hearing about Nell, he came over to see me." They stopped as they reached the door entering the bathroom. Turning to face each other, Lana sighed and cleared her throat, "Believe it or not, I'm actually glad to see him," she finished, smiling lightly. She really was trying to get into a better frame of mind. 

 

Martha smiled softly at Lana, hoping everything would work out for her in the end. It had to have been rough to see what happened to Nell, but she had always known that deep down, Lana was actually a very strong girl. "That's good to hear," she replied, giving a warm smile at the younger woman, before gesturing for Lana to use the facilities before herself. Lana smiled and nodded her thanks before closing the door behind herself. 

 

@>*~ 

 

Jonathan sighed as he stood in the center of the room he was in. He'd opened another random door and walked into the room, turned in a full circle and finally settling his hands on his hips and wondering where exactly this damn War Room was. The last five doors he'd opened so far hadn't contained so much as a knife letter opener much less an armful of old weapons. One had been what looked like a library, another an enormous bathroom with a tub made for at least six people to sit in comfortably. He frowned at it as he shut the door, crossing down another hallway and into another room. Should he try what was behind door number seven? He sighed, riddled with frustration as he turned around and went back out the way he came. This was exactly why he lived in a simple farmhouse. Well, that, and he couldn't afford a bigger house if he wanted to. 

 

@>*~ 

 

"Clark," Lex finally got out, feeling breathless after his lips were released and Clark started to undo the buttons of his shirt. Clark kept a grin on his face the whole time, not stopping as they both knew why Lex's hands were pressing firmly against his shoulders. "Clark," Lex said again after regaining some composure, "We can't do this now. Your friends and parents are down stairs and could come up here any minute." 

 

Clark looked up at Lex through dark lashes for a moment, his hands pausing where they were, mid unbuttoning, before he sighed in frustration and let his hands drop. Stepping back from Lex, Clark trailed his hand around Lex's waist, not wanting to let go, before he moved over to sit on the edge of the bed. "Then why'd we come up here for?" 

 

"I didn't feel like being around my father at the moment," Lex said, as he smoothed his hands over his shirt, doing the buttons back up. "This isn't the first time he's embarrassed me, but right now, I need to cool down before I go out there." Clark had leaned back; propped himself up on his arms behind himself, and was watching Lex undo his pants slightly. Lex saw the smirk growing on Clark's face and he looked sternly at the teen before hurriedly tucking his shirt back in. "I was about ready to hand him over to your father," Lex finished as he pulled away from Clark, walking over to take a seat on his bed. 

 

Clark's first reaction was a humored scoff before he sighed. "Alright, fine," Clark said, pouting slightly at his best friend. Lex refrained from rolling his eyes at Clark's bad attempt at pity. Clark almost smiled, before he folded his arms behind his head and fell back onto the bed, bouncing it from the impact. 

Lex hated leaving Clark like this. All frustrated and bored, wanting to do more but it just wasn't the right time for it. "Hey," he addressed Clark softly, his voice calm and reassuring he wasn't upset at Clark's forwardness a minute ago, taking a couple steps towards the bed to see Clark's face at a better angle. "I need to use the bathroom, I think I drank more then I should have. I'll be right back, okay?" Clark disentangled a hand from its partner and from the back of his hair and waved it curtly at Lex, letting him know he heard before snuggling it back behind his head. Closing his eyes, Clark listened to the footsteps as Lex left the room, heading towards the bathroom that was adjacent to the bedroom. 

 

@>*~ 

 

Pete slowed his melancholy walk to a halt, and leaned back against a stone pillar in the garden, looking at its twin; the markers to signify the entrance, or exit, of the garden. He closed his eyes as he took a deep breath, enjoying the fragrance of the flowers permeating the cool air of the evening. He was actually surprised that a Luthor would actually have a nice garden. Probably not like he ever set foot in it, let alone cared for it or really enjoyed it. Pete pushed himself off from the pillar and walked farther away from the castle, spotting a bench a few feet away, leading off the main path, onto a smaller trail. He gave leisurely looks to the flowers and various shrubs and plants as he made his way towards the seat. He appreciated it in a way he doubted Clark's 'friend' ever would. He'd never expressed how much he enjoyed the beauty of nature to Clark or...to Chloe, when she was still alive. He *was* a guy after all. 

 

@>*~ 

 

Letting out a grunt as he banged unceremoniously into the wall for the third time on his way down the hall. He was getting progressively irritated at the click of his cane on the hard wood floor as he made his way towards the office, intent on getting a sip of scotch. The wine had been fine, but upon requesting more earlier, not only Lex, but the servants also told him no more alcohol. He had not been happy, to say the least. Feeling his way along the wall, he sighed to himself in relief as he felt along the edges of the familiar doorframe leading into the office. 

 

Only a step past the threshold to his son's office, he sighed, wishing he could just whisk his way over to the bar. Being blind was horrible. Taking a steadying breath, Lionel continued a few steps on his way before he felt a cool brush of air as it shifted next to him. He felt a tiny shiver on his arm, and realized he had frozen in place. He was about to scoff at himself for almost being scared when his cane was abruptly snatched out of his hands. He thought he had frozen before, but he was wrong. His body tensed up completely and it was all he could do to ask, as steady as he could while trying not to show his fear, "Who's there?" 

 

Lionel heard a pitying sigh from his assailant and could simply imagine the person shaking their head disapprovingly at him. Remembering several times he looked down at his young son in the same way he was sensing was being done to him at the moment, not being able to meet those eyes, Lionel tensed his jaw, feeling as if he could relate. "Poor, Lionel," the voice continued, "Can't see a damn thing, can you?" Sounding amused and taking a step around Lionel, beginning to circle around the Luthor. 

 

"Excuse me?" Lionel asked indignantly, turning to follow the voice. No one dared to speak to him like that. Taking a step towards the voice, his insecurity about running into anything forgotten as he pulled his eyebrows together, frowning, as he hoped, in a menacing manner. 

 

Lionel took another step. "And how sweet," the irreverent voice began, again, "You're all alone right now." The familiar arrogant step that Lionel had fallen into faltered as he heard humorless laughter directed at him. "Well, don't worry," sarcastic sympathy apparent as the voice made another half circle around Lionel, "You won't be for long." 

 

Lionel frowned at the spot where he heard the voice coming from before following it; turning his head and his body slowly around again, vaguely aware of the feeling of being blindfolded and spun in a circle to purposely disorient the person before they had to pin a tail on a donkey. "You sound familiar," Lionel drawled, trying to maintain some authority in his voice, "What...agghh!" Lionel cried as a sharp stab of pain was sent piercing through his chest. Tilting his head down, as if he would see the impalement, raising his hands to the wound and feeling the blood seeping out from his body. Staggering backwards when the dramatic loss of blood hit him, he was stopped from falling backwards onto the floor by the door. Gasping in pain as the flat impact from behind jarred the wound in front. 

 

Feeling his knees about ready to give out under the trembling stress of his body, Lionel struggled as he gasped in a breath of air, smelling of fresh blood. As emphatic as he could with the life draining out of him, he asked a question of, "Why..." It was spoken softly, and trailed off as Lionel wheezed the previous breath out of his system. 

 

"Why not?" Was retorted harshly in his face. Lionel felt the heat of his murderer's breath against his pale, damp and unpleasant skin, making him feel like he was about to vomit. As the cane was gripped, sending more bloody trickles down Lionel's shirt, the impromptu weapon moved further into his battered chest. Tipping his head back, hitting the door with a small thud, Lionel tried to draw another ragged breath into his body; he failed. The attempt only making him cough indelicately. Already knowing his life would soon end, Lionel winced very visibly as the blood seeped out of the corner of his mouth. Trying again to hold on, taking another breath, he was left coughing again, spitting the filth of his blood out in a stringy blob. 

 

A stray speck or two of blood landed on his killer's face, and a cruel smirk grew as the cane was let go. Lionel sagged wearily against the back of the door before falling to the floor with as much grace as a dying body could. A groan and more blood spit to the floor, his face only inches away from the feet of his killer, Lionel struggled a soft murmur of his murderer's name, earning a well placed kick to the face which sent him careening over the edge, and he blacked out...permanently. 

 

@>*~ 

 

Lex crossed the hallway and stepped into the bathroom, shutting the door softly behind him, locking it. After hearing the small click of the lock, Lex turned and approached the toilet, lifting the lid and unzipping his pants. After taking care of his business, he moved to the sink, turning the water on. He leaned down to splash some water onto his face before finishing washing his hands. Grabbing a plush towel from the cupboard under the sink, Lex pushed his face into it, drying it quickly and lowering it to relieve the wetness from his hands as well. 

He took a deep breath, puffing up his chest and standing up straight as he looked at himself in the mirror. Not quite admiring himself, but he had to admit, he was rather attractive for being bald at his age. Suddenly frowning, he stuck his tongue in his cheek, shoving the spot he was looking at. His frown deepened and he leaned closer to the mirror, inspecting the red spot on his face; he didn't get blemishes. Straightening himself, he shrugged it off, attributing it to his horrible eating habits lately, what with the stress of business and recent deaths and all. And having his father stay with him, cramping his style, if you will, Lex thought. And of course having him being a genuine ass tonight didn't help one bit. 

 

He sighed, trying not to let it all bother him, but he knew he owed it to himself to still keep in touch with his emotions. His father failed in that area, and Lex was sure that was one of the reasons he would exceed his potential; being able to maintain his emotions while keeping it a safe distance from his business decisions. One last look in the mirror and he eased the frown from his face as he smoothed a hand over his scalp and looked himself over.

Seeing nothing else in his appearance in need of preening, he left the bathroom, intent on spending a few minutes with Clark before they all had to reconvene downstairs. 

 

@>*~ 

 

Clark sighed to himself as he shut the door to the bathroom. Where had Lex gotten to? He'd been out of the bedroom for several minutes looking for Lex when he'd been gone for at least fifteen minutes, according to the alarm clock on the night table beside the bed. He became bored and restless laying there, waiting for Lex to return. Being in the bathroom for fifteen minutes; what the hell was he doing, anyway? Taking a crap? 

 

He had made his way out of the bedroom and stood in the hall, knocking lightly on the bathroom door. "Lex?" When no answer came forth, he knocked a little louder, calling again, "Lex, are you in there?" 

 

Frowning at either being ignored, or Lex wasn't there, Clark was curious and he slowly opened the door and peered inside. When he found it to be empty with the light off, he closed the door and turned, a bewildered expression crossing his features. Pursing his lips, and reinforcing the frown on his face, he went back into the bedroom to see if Lex might have gone back in there when he wasn't looking. Scanning the room, he found it empty also. Well, he kind of figured that would be the case, but it didn't hurt to check. 

 

Clark hadn't heard any of the upstairs doors open or close besides the bathroom door closing when Lex went in, but he must have dozed off for a moment and missed Lex exiting after his business in there. Plus, he had scanned each room briefly with his x-ray vision. So, he knew Lex wasn't up there, hiding. He remembered Lex mentioning something about some papers he had to finish before tomorrow. He wasn't sure why Lex would decide to do work now, of all times, but Lex was a character all unto himself. Heading for the stairs, Clark figured he really must have wanted to get those papers out of the way. 

 

Clark was a step or two from the bottom of the stairs when he caught sight of blonde hair just inside the doorway to Lex's office. Unless Lex had decided to suddenly start wearing a wig, he knew it couldn't be him. He definitely wanted to know who it was, though. And there were only two possibilities with the blonde hair. Whitney, or his dad. And he doubted his dad wanted to play pool; if it was Jonathan, he was probably lost. As he reached the last step, he turned in the direction of the office and made his way down the hall. 

 

Recognition clicked in as he got closer, revealing the identity of the blonde. "Whitney?" Clark asked, concerned. Whitney's stance was...off, it didn't look right. Hearing his name, Whitney slowly turned, stiffly, looking at Clark with wide, glazed over eyes. The turn gave Clark a clear view of what had shocked the former football player, his mouth dropped open slightly and he felt sick at the sight, knowing what Lex must have felt like upon seeing Nell's body. He knew that had been worse, but seeing any dead body brutally murdered was a horrible thing to witness. Clark swiftly moved to Whitney and pulled him into a hug, not knowing what else to do. 

 

@>*~ 

 

Lex wasn't purposely trying to be quiet as he stepped down the stairs, but when he caught sight of Clark's arms around another man, he knew he couldn't hold back. He set his feet down a bit too hard when he reached the level floor and Clark turned to face him, his arms lingering on Whitney's shoulders a little longer than necessary, Lex noticed. He knew it wasn't Clark's father when he saw them together, the way Clark was rubbing his hand over the other man's back was unsettling. 

 

Clark turned when he heard Lex's heavy footsteps and his expression immediately changed to worry with underlining fear. Clark was often hard to read, but this time Lex saw it loud and clear. Clark stepped towards him, hoping to calm Lex down, "Lex, no!" He cried out, putting his body between Lex and the large open doorway, hoping to whatever gods there were out there that Lex didn't see the gruesome scene laying on the floor of his office. 

 

"Clark," Lex said stiffly, gripping the papers in his hands he was bringing down to his desk. His voice held a tone of warning and Clark felt like he should obey, but he knew it was the wrong decision in this case. Clark gave him a long sorrowful look, coming from the deepest depths of his eyes as Lex gritted his teeth and pushed his friend out of the way, feeling betrayed. "I don't know what's g - " was as far as Lex got, looking hurtfully back at Clark, before he turned his attention back to the office, "..od," Lex finished softly, losing his composure. His knees feeling weak as he saw the blood pooling out from the side of his father's chest. His father. Lying on the floor in a pool of blood; his own blood. 

 

"Oh, god," Lex whispered softly, his carefully guarded emotions became unmanned, leaving him with an absence of power or force over them. His gritted teeth long since given in to a slack gaping jaw. His angrily gripped fingers loosened and the loose papers drifted silently to the floor, followed by the folder they were supposed to be in. Anger forgotten at Clark for touching another man, anger at his father melted away as Lex's knees really did give out he slipped down to the floor, landing on them with a small crack. 

 

Lex's reaction seemed to be going in slow motion to Clark. He watched what little color there was in Lex's pale skin drain away before Lex's body followed it down. "Oh," Lex started, gasping for breath and swallowing hard, his throat suddenly dry, "God." He finished again, and he felt Clark's arms encase him. Feeling suddenly too hot for the bodily contact, he struggled to his feet. Not able to take his eyes off of his father's body, he couldn't stop feeling like he did it, like it was his fault. He never meant anything he'd ever said about his father, truly, he didn't. He loved him. Yes, maybe they did show their feelings in a skewed way to each other compared to 'normal' love, but they both knew they were the only ones they had, that they could trust deep down to their core; even if it never showed on the surface. 

 

@>*~ 

 

The rest of the dinner guests were waiting as patiently as they could for the errant boys, including Lionel, to return to the dining room. It had been about thirty odd minutes since they had all gone their separate ways, and had begun to file back into the room, now. Martha was sitting casually in her seat, sipping at her glass of wine as Jonathan glowered at nothing in particular. Martha smiled in bemusement at what her husband had told her about getting lost and never finding the War Room. Next time, she'd ask Lex for a map of the castle, if that is, he invited them all back after the previous...conversations the night had held. 

 

Lana was keeping an eye on the entrances to the dining room. She had to wonder where Whitney had gotten to in the large building. She'd tried following him after she used the bathroom, but was unable to track him down. She sighed, knowing at least the reason why he had been fidgeting all throughout dinner. 

 

A sudden noise towards their left made the three of them turn in semi-unison as they watched three quarters of their missing dinner party companions come through the doorway. Clark wasn't walking any faster than normal, if anything he was walking slower. Lex's feet struggled as Clark half dragged, half carried him into the room. As if he'd lost half of his coordination and was lagging as he tried to regain it in time for the next step, Clark's arm around his waist and holding tightly onto Lex's hip held him steady, rendering Lex unable to fall and hurt himself. 

 

After Clark and his baggage that was Lex, Whitney followed, looking stunned and almost afraid, keeping his eyes on the floor in front of him, only to make sure he didn't trip over anything. Lana became worried at seeing that expression on her ex boyfriend's face and she set her drink down as she passed the table, making her way to Whitney and pulling him into a hug. He wearily pulled his arms up around her and returned the gesture. 

 

Martha got up from her seat, a frown laced with concern upon her face as she rushed to her son's side. "Clark, what happened?" She asked incredulously, not having ever seen Lex in such a state and almost not ready to believe it if it wasn't really happening. He looked so lost and alone. 

 

Clark used his free hand to pull out Lex's chair and gingerly arranged him into it, never straying more than a foot away and ending up kneeling beside his friend, making sure he was all right and had everything he needed. Looking up, Clark blinked away tears before he could see the worried face his mother wore. "I dunno. We, uh, f...found...um," he stuttered, too shocked himself to go on. 

Jonathan looked at the scene across the table from him and had gotten up slowly from his seat, wondering why in God's name Clark had his hands around Lex, not thinking that there was something wrong, just seeing something wrong to him. 

 

Looking from the expression on Whitney's face and back to regard his son, he became apparent that something was far more wrong than the boys' bodies having been pressed together. "Clark, tell us," he prompted, "What happened, what did you find?" He leaned over the table, hands bracing himself as he looked sternly at them. Not wanting to be demanding, but it was hard not to sound that way for him when he was half out of the loop. 

 

Lex made a noise in the back of his throat and his hand abruptly shot up 

from sitting limply in his lap where Clark had placed it, to the glass sitting n the table. His hands were trembling slightly as he took hold of the glass and brought it shakily towards himself. Clark turned his attention back to his friend and steadied the glass and Lex's arm as Lex took a hefty gulp of the glass' contents. Clark watched Lex as a tiny semblance of emotional strength returned to his best friend before turning back to his parents, finishing what he could manage to get out. "We...found Lionel...kill...killed in the office," Clark's breath hitched after he'd finished and he turned back to Lex, picking the again limp hand up and holding it for comfort, knowing Lex would need it after hearing those words, too. 

 

As Martha elicited a gasp of horror and shock, her hands rapidly flew up to cover her mouth, stifling any further emotional outbursts. Jonathan hurried over to his wife, feeling almost sick to his stomach. He knew he was being dramatic with how he was feeling, knowing far how much worse it would have been to actually see the body, feeling what Clark and Lex and Whitney must be genuinely feeling. Jonathan wrapped his arms around her shaking shoulders, "Wha...How'd it happen?" He asked, still wanting to know more. Martha released another louder gasp, even through her hands clamped over her face. Her body became wracked with barely suppressed sobs. Even if she wasn't Lionel's best friend, she still cared about every other living being and it was horrible when they passed on. 

 

Clark swallowed hard, almost thinking he heard himself gulp, "I dunno, Dad. I was upstairs with Lex," Clark paused, knowing it was a bad place to stop, but he didn't want to break down. Someone needed to stay together here, "He went to go do something, so I came down here to look for him and," another pause, another swallow, a longing look at his glass across the table before looking back at his parents and back and forth from Whitney to Lana, "I found Whitney standing next to the door of the office, shaking." Clark finished, not sure if he could say any more or not, that was all he knew, though. Looking over his shoulder he saw Lana blink back tears as she lifted a hand to stroke Whitney's face comfortingly. It looked a little too hard to be comforting, more like she was trying to rub the horror away, but it was the best she could do. 

 

"Should we call the police, or something?" Lana asked, unsure of what to say or do. Knowing the Luthors were particular about who they involve in their personal affairs, and she didn't want to upset Lex any more than he appeared to be. Martha began to come around again and quieted her tears, she sniffed and took a breath to steady herself before nodding her head, agreeing that it would probably be the best idea. 

 

The attention of the room's occupants was shifted towards the far corner as the squeak of sneakers emanated from that direction. Pete paused in the doorway and blinked at the attention focused solely on him. He looked down at himself, feeling self-conscious, checking to make sure his fly was zipped up before lifting his head, a curious expression on his face. "What?" he asked defensively, looking confused. 

 

Martha wiped at her eyes as she loosed herself from Jonathan's comforting embrace and walked over to Pete. She grasped his hand and guided him into the dining room. "Pete," she began, sniffling lightly and trying not to accuse him of anything from the tone of her voice, but it was hard not to. Considering that someone was murdered in a building that was secured and only contained so many people, it was a growing revelation to everyone that the killer had to be one of them. Or someone that had managed to elude the security system of the Luthor Manor. "Where were you?" she asked, looking into his eyes. 

 

Pete frowned and became aware once again of the attention being forced on him by everyone in the room, the eerie quietness as they all waited for his answer. He looked back and forth from Clark to Martha, Jonathan to Whitney and back to Clark and returning to Martha. He frowned again, wondering what he was being left out on, but answered, "Out in the garden. I needed some fresh air," the collective air of relief was hardly apparent before it was replaced with silent suspicion, "Why?" 

 

Clark watched his mother sit Pete down, unsure of how he would react to the news of another death, this one happening so physically close to them all. Martha pulled another chair out and sat down beside Pete, grasping his hand. Pete looked worried and almost pissed off at being the center of attention for the moment and not knowing what was going on. Clark looked up at his friend from his position, sitting on his knees beside Lex's chair, holding Lex's hand still. "Lex's dad was killed," Clark said for the second time, glad he was taking the role as the stable one in this situation. He didn't want his mother to cry, having to force the words out. 

 

Pete blinked at Clark, noting the hand-holding and that he was kneeled like a puppy at Lex's feet. He continued staring in stunned amazement at the statement, almost wanting to laugh, but dismissed the idea when he took in the look on everyone's face. He looked dazed, getting up from his chair, Martha didn't want him running off alone, he might get lost, or in trouble by doing something while he wasn't thinking correctly. She stood up behind him and laid a hand on his shoulder, rubbing reassuringly. He looked up at her with a look of dismay covering his face before he looked over at the others, and asked, "When?" 

Clark watched Pete go through several emotions, letting the impact of his words settle in a bit before he said, "We don't know," Clark admitted, sounding almost forlorn, "Whitney was the first one to find him." The emotionally heavy looks fell to poor Whitney when Clark finished, leaving the blonde stunned once again, remembering what he'd seen. At the reminder that his father had been found, dead, no less, Lex felt a surge of moral anguish arising from repentance for past misdeeds; bitter regret at his actions. He'd been almost emotionless, a blank mask lowered onto his features as he sat slightly slumped in the chair, still and limp, feeling cold and strangely betrayed. Clark slid a hand between the chair and his friend's back, feeling him tense with built up, unexpressed emotion. Clark was glad Lex was coming back to the land of the living, a horrible description, he knew, but he felt things were looking up knowing that Lex wouldn't stay in the state he was currently in. Hoping, at least, that Lex would take control of this situation and his emotions, even as he strangely looked to have lost them all, considering the blank stare he displayed. Clark still felt bad for his friend. He was going to be as supportive as he could to help Lex through this. 

 

Martha's previous thoughts were now at the front of the rest of the group's minds. Silent suspicion, indeed. No one said anything as they all began to sit down and share in the collective grief, for Lionel, or anyone else that had been lost recently. Comfortable was an impossible thing to achieve in the dining room, but comfort was another thing. Giving as well as recieving, everyone shared as much as they could to cheer each other up and help this terrible time pass quicker. Hoping that the mistrusting thoughts of someone among them being able to conduct such a gruesome task would soon fade and the real lunatic would be shown to be someone other than one of their friends. 

 

@>*~ 

 

Oh, *God*. I loved how the blood smothered the clothes of that sarcastic bastard bleeding all over his damn self and his floor. It was almost *orgasmic* how he coughed and spit up the dark, thick blood. I could imagine it bubbling up his throat, choking him, making him silently scream inside his head, trying to force it out of his mouth and only having a spurt of blood come out. From the smells, from copper to burnt butter, I think he may even have pissed in his pants, too. Although, I'm not sure if I should have left the body there in the room for all to see. I mean, what if they find out it was me? No! It can't happen, I won't allow it to happen. I must keep a low profile. Especially since they continue to mock me! I feel...I have to...No. Must get them all, before they get me. Slowly, I must continue this slowly. *Must* not screw up and become careless. No, no. I need to bide my time. Yes! I have to kill them all, every last one of them. 

 

Their continuous pointing and laughing behind by back, telling me I made all the wrong decisions, it will all come back to haunt them. Ha! They act as if they like me; enjoying my company and conversation to my face. But, no, of course that's not true. The second my back is turned, bam! They're all snickering into their hands like little schoolgirls. Tee-heeing left and right. I'll get them all and then they'll see who's laughing.


	3. Part 3

The funeral was two days later. Arrangements had been made to redesign the plaque that adorned the Luthor crypt, adding Lionel's name beside his wife's. His parents. Lex knew that some day he'd be beside them, but he hoped it was a long time from now, even if he missed them. He had to converse a little, to keep up at least a bit of a social standing. Everyone understood he wasn't exactly in the mood for a nice chat, but they had their good intentions; to try and cheer him up. 

 

There had been a closed casket service before hand. Lex didn't want his last image of his father to be any worse than the one he currently held in his mind. It was weighing heavy on his mental health and sometimes, just sometimes; he could convince himself that his father had simply passed out. Having drank too much, passed out and spilled his drink, his dark red liquor, spilling out from under him. Lex sighed, it was the only thing he could do and the deep breaths seemed to help him maintain his cool. He would not allow himself to break down, at seeing his father's body, or for letting himself feel the pain of his loss. 

People from all around the globe came to pay their respects. None of them actual friends of Lionel's, more like acquaintances, employees, and what have you. Lex watched them come and go, maybe stop to shake his hand, or at the least, if they noticed him or paid any attention to something other than getting in and getting out or there, maybe a nod of respect to Lionel's son. Clark stood by his side the entire time, showing what support he could for his best friend. Lex may not have had too good of a relationship with his father, but he had been the only family Lex had left. Now, he had no one; no one should be alone. Clark reached out a hand, placing it on Lex's shoulder, trying to show he was there for his friend if he needed him. 

 

Lex just stared silently at the crypt with a blank look in his eyes. The only reaction since that night had been his void, blank face. Unfeeling, unseeing, Lex had gone through all his business like usual, plus arranging for the funeral as much that had to be done personally. He hadn't cried since he caught that deathly glimpse of his father in the office; his office. How could he step on the floor there again? How would he feel? All his tears were gone; he couldn't become upset and cry. It wouldn't do any good anyway. After a time alone with his thoughts, Lex turned from the crypt and made his way back to the limo waiting for him. He stepped quickly away from the cemetery. Clark watched for a moment before following after him. He had offered to stay with Lex for a few days and Lex had declined; telling Clark he wouldn't be able to stay at the castle after what happened. So, after a long argument with his father, they decided to invite Lex over to stay with them until he was able to once again go back home. 

 

He knew he'd end up drinking himself into a stupor and not getting anything accomplished, especially nothing productive, if he was alone. Clark's presence was enough to give him a tendril of comfort, and he had reluctantly and hastily agreed; he needed the support and did not want to slip into old habits. Turning his head, he gave one last backward glance at the crypt containing his parents, as Clark opened the door for Lex to step into the limo. Then Clark got in after him and they settled in for the long drive back to Smallville, and to the Kent farm. 

 

@>*~ 

 

"I still don't see why he has to stay here," Jonathan said gruffly, leaning back against the wall, arms crossed tightly across his chest. He wasn't too pleased about it, but he could understand where the idea was coming from. He supposed it would be a good idea for Lex to be out of the castle, but did it have to be under *his* roof? 

 

Martha turned, finished wiping the kitchen counter clean and tossed the cloth back to the sink and stopped to stare disbelievingly at her husband. "Jonathan," she began incredulously, "We've already been through this! His father was killed in his own house. Do you really think he wants to be reminded of that fact everyday?" she asked, copying her husband's posture, although her stance was more impressive, despite Jonathan's glare. 

 

Jonathan sighed, relenting. "Of course not, sweetheart," he dropped his arms to his sides and crossed the room to his wife, "But doesn't he have some place else he could stay?" 

 

"Jonathan, he needs support and understanding right now. He may not openly show it, but he is scared and all alone now," she said sadly, trying to reason with her husband. He could be so stubborn sometimes. "Just because he's his father's son, doesn't mean he isn't affected by this. Remember, he is still just a boy." 

 

Before Jonathan could respond, his mouth half open, the screen door was pulled back, sounding a slight creak. Both elder Kents turned to see who it was. Smiling softly at his parents, Clark stepped through the doorway and took in the scene in front of him. Frowning slightly in concern, and curious to know what they had been discussing, he asked, "Mom, Dad? You guys all right?" The tension he could sense from his parents had stilled him for a moment, still standing in the doorway. He turned his head to glance behind him as he moved into the house and to the side, to let Lex enter in behind him, feeling silly to have blocked the doorway and left Lex standing outside on the porch in the cold. 

 

Martha smiled when she saw her son, glancing quickly at her husband, silently conveying her thoughts to him. "We're fine, Clark. Why don't you show Lex up to the guest room while I finish preparing dinner?" She gestured to the stairs and smiled again at them both, watching Jonathan nod in acknowledgement at Lex before turning her attention back to the stove. 

 

"Okay, Mom," Clark turned and fought the urge to grab Lex's hand in his own and lead him across the house on a tour, "Come on, Lex." The two young men crossed the kitchen and made their way towards the stairs. As Clark started up the steps Lex looked up and his eyes focused onto the sight of Clark's ass moving in front of his face. His gaze rested there until they had reached the top, and he found himself still looking down at his friend's backside. Knowing Clark would ask why his head was down, Lex shook his head, clearing his thoughts and continued. 

Clark was a few steps down the hall before he paused long enough for Lex to catch up with him. Opening the door in front of him, Clark began to show Lex around upstairs, where things were. "This room is mine. You can tell by all the school stuff in it. Heh." Indeed there were quite a bit of Smallville High accessories adorning the bedroom. A messy bed and clothes strewn about. A typical teenaged boy's room. Lex smiled in spite of his current mood, and Clark sounding embarrassed somewhat with his room, he assumed. 

 

Walking across the hall, Clark pointed to another door. "This room is my parents' room. I try not to go in there. My parents like their privacy and besides," Clark stopped and looked at Lex, making sure his meaning wasn't lost, "I really don't want to know what's in there." Lex laughed lightly at Clark's observation of his parents' sleeping area. Clark smiled brightly back, glad to be helping his friend's mood improve, and moved down the hall a few feet. "This here," he began, opening the door, "Is the bathroom. Surprisingly, we actually get a decent amount of time with the hot water, but I wouldn't try to take a shower longer then fifteen minutes or you may wind up turning blue." 

 

Clark gestured across the hall from the bathroom, shutting the door behind him, "This is the guest room, which you'll be staying in," he said as he opened the door, walking in as Lex followed behind him. It was a nice little room, Martha's interior decorating project. It was cozy and warm, welcoming and pleasant. Plus, being right across the hall from the bathroom eliminated a lot of intimidation of middle of the night trips to the bathroom in nothing but his birthday suit or briefs. He didn't really want to be looking forward to Jonathan or Martha catching him scooting down the hall naked to the bathroom. Clark, on the other hand... 

 

@>*~ 

 

Approaching the steps leading up to the Fordman's front door, Lana felt almost a bit apprehensive. This was the first time she had been to Whitney's house since the day he had left for basic training. Taking a deep breath to settle her nerves, Lana finished climbing the steps and reached a hand up to ring the doorbell. Standing back to wait only a few moments before Missus Fordman answered the door, greeting her with a small smile and a raised eyebrow. 

 

"Lana," Whitney's mother said, sounding almost surprised to see her, "How good to see you. Please," Missus Fordman stepped back, opening the door wider and gesturing to Lana, "Come inside." Lana stepped through the doorway, smiling at her ex boyfriend's mother. "I'll let Whitney know you're here," Missus Fordman said sweetly before turning and heading for the staircase, presumably to Whitney's room, leaving Lana feeling a bit shy and awkward alone down in the living room. 

 

Lana was getting progressively anxious about seeing Whitney, unsure of how he would react. She knew it wasn't her fault that he found Mister Luthor, but she was the one who had mentioned inviting him; it made her feel partially responsible for his well-being at the moment. Checking her watch, it had been a couple minutes already and she was wondering if Missus Fordman had forgotten she was here when Lana caught sight of Whitney walking down the stairs. "Hey, Lana," he began, sounding decidedly more cheerful than he was the last time she'd seen him, "I wasn't expecting to see you here. What's up?" 

 

When Lana saw him coming down the stairs, she stood from where she had seated herself on the couch and stepped briskly over to her ex, meeting him half way and giving him a brief hug. Whitney returned her embrace and pulled back to smile at her, happy to see her. "I just wanted to see if you needed anything," Lana said as she backed up and made her way back over to the couch. "How have you been doing?" 

 

Whitney followed her over to the sitting area and sighed as he took a seat on the couch behind him, leaning back and putting a leg up over the other, crossed at his knee. "I'm doing better," he answered after a moment of self-regard, "I mean," he continued, and paused for a second. "I'm a marine now and all, but still, I've never seen someone who died a violent death before and seeing Mister Luthor on the floor..." He trailed off, his voice threatening to break on him. He looked up from where he'd focused on the coffee table, at Lana's face, "It got to me, you know?" 

 

Lana sat, a concerned look on her face as she listened to Whitney express himself. She nodded in sympathy at his words and took his hand in hers, holding it tightly for support. "I know. I felt the same way when I saw Nell," she related to him before moving from the chair she was in. Taking a seat next to her ex, Lana put on a brave smile, hoping she looked as supportive as she wanted Whitney to understand. "I'm sure everything will work out in the end. You have your mother to support you and," she paused, almost not wanting to place herself in a vulnerable spot for any guilt to be laid on her, "You have me as well." 

 

Whitney smiled back at her and squeezed her hand gently, "Thanks, Lana." He leaned forward and gave her half a hug, although it was a bit contorted by their sitting beside each other. "That means a lot to me," another smile and a hopeful look entering his eyes as he held hers. 

 

"No problem," Lana replied with a smile. 

 

@>*~ 

 

When Clark had left earlier, after giving Lex a brief tour, he began to unpack what little he had brought with him to the Kent's house. He was almost finished putting the clothes he brought into the dresser that was against the far wall of the room. There was a knock at his door and Lex dropped the shirt into the drawer and frowned slightly, looking at the door. "Come in," he called out, resuming his unpacking. 

 

Having left his friend to let him unpack after a call from his mother, Clark opened the door and came into the guest room. Lex had turned just as the door opened and smiled at his friend. "Need any help?" Clark asked, returning the smile before shutting the door behind himself and crossing the room, around the end of the bed and stopped, standing right in front of his friend. 

 

"No, I think I have it taken care of," Lex replied, bent over slightly to grab another couple items of clothing out of his bag. A light sigh escaped his lips as he felt strong arms encircling his waist from behind. Straightening up, Lex smiled to himself as he turned within the arms to gaze into his friend's eyes. "Want something?" He asked casually, pretending not to be aware of the sudden closeness between the two of them, and the wonderful arms holding him against a well muscled body. 

 

A bright smile was beamed at him and Clark leaned forward to place a kiss onto Lex's lips. At the insistant lapping at his lips, Lex parted them pliantly for the tongue to invade his mouth. Taking it as an invitation for more, Clark thrust his tongue into Lex's mouth, sucking greedily on Lex's tongue. Feeling warm hands slide up the smooth fabric of his shirt, Lex didn't register it was a bad thing until he felt Clark's move to attempt to undo the buttons on his shirt, he pushed his friend away gently, but not far. "Lex?" Clark asked, unsure of why he was stopped. 

 

"Clark," Lex said, making sure he wasn't to be taken lightly at the moment, "Your parents are downstairs. Not right now, okay?" Lex rubbed Clark's arms softly, making sure the younger man didn't feel like he didn't want it. He did, but getting caught by your underage lover's parents wasn't something he was prepared to deal with. 

 

Clark sighed, but nodded his acceptance as he took a reluctant step away from Lex. "So," he began with a more cheerful lint to his voice, there would be time for more play later. "Are you almost done? Mom told me to bring you downstairs. Dinner's ready." Clark held out his hand to Lex, waiting for him to grasp it and be lead out of the room, down the hall and half way down the stairs before having to let go because of the watchful eyes of his parents. 

 

Martha looked up from setting the rest of their dinner on the table when she heard the sound of two sets of feet coming down the steps from upstairs. "For a minute there I didn't think you two would make it," she said with a twinkle in her eye and it looked as if she was fighting back a smirk. She knew her son had a crush on the other boy and loved teasing him about it when she could. All she got from the two boys was a blush and an eye roll. 

 

"Funny, Mom," Clark replied as calmly as he could without furthering the color on his cheeks. He gave a slight gesture for Lex to follow him around the table and smiled up at Lex when he sat down in his usual seat across from his mother. 

Lex cleared his throat before taking a seat at the other end of the table, opposite from Jonathan's chair and around the corner from Clark. Reflexes kicking in suddenly as his knee banged on the underside of the table top as he felt a hand settle onto his thigh. He turned his head towards his friend and widened his eyes for a second, before settling for a slight glare, in shocked amazement at what he'd done upon feeling the hand touch him softly, silently blaming Clark for it. Lex straightened back to the table when Jonathan came into the kitchen from where he'd been in the middle of the hallway towards the living room. Martha gave him a curious look and he smiled politely at her, Clark did the same, making his mother shake her head at the two of them. 

 

Jonathan sat down in his chair and looked across the table, "Clark," he said to his son by way of greeting. "Lex." Curt, but still as friendly as the others in the room could expect from the eldest Kent on the first night that Lex was set to stay with them. Martha sat down after placing the remaining dish of food on the table and smiled at her husband. It seeming to have taken the edge off of Jonathan's nerves, the meal began peacefully. 

 

@>*~ 

 

"Clark!" Pete called out, shrugging his bag back onto his shoulder as he jogged through the crowded hall to catch up to Clark. He'd barely talked to his friend all day, and now that he'd heard something, he wanted to make sure it wasn't just people making up stories. 

 

Clark turned when his friend's voice filtered through the volley of noise and looked through the groups of students in the hall, smiling when he finally caught sight of his friend catching up to him. "What's up, Pete?" Clark asked as he started towards his locker again, Pete walking along side him. 

 

"I heard Lex is living with you now. Is that true?" Pete asked, keeping his voice as low as he could, but loud enough for Clark to hear him. A raised eyebrow the only emotion on his face at the thought of a Luthor living with the Kents. He wouldn't have thought that Lex would want to subject himself to inferior living standards, even if he was emotionally shook up. 

 

Continuing the walk to the set of lockers that Clark's was located in, he frowned for a second at how fast word got out that Lex was staying at his house. Addressing his friend as they reached their destination, Clark replied as he grasped the lock holding the door shut, and turning the dial, inserting its code. "Yeah, he's staying with us for a few weeks. At least until he feels comfortable going back to the castle." Shoving his book into the now open locker and taking out his notes for the next class, he slammed it shut and looked at his friend. "Why," he asked, giving Pete a speculative look upon seeing his friend's facial expression. 

 

"Nothing," Pete said, a little too quickly, "Just wondering if the rumor was true or not. Wouldn't want to spread lies about you, now would I?" Pete said, smirking at his friend. Clark was glad he wasn't too upset about it, knowing that with Lex around him more, he'd have less time for Pete. 

 

At the smirk, Clark rolled his eyes at Pete, getting a slap on the back before Pete turned and went off to find his own locker. "Catch you later tonight, man!" Pete called back at his friend, reminding him that he'd be stopping by the Kent farm. 

 

Clark nodded his confirmation at Pete, who was already quite a few steps down the hall before, he smiled and shook his head, watching his friend walk down the hall before turning around and almost running right into Lana. Clutching his papers to his chest in order not to see them spill to the floor and get trampled by how many pairs of feet that would walk by, unheeding of Clark's academic standing as they smudged or ripped his notes, "Lana!" A bit startled still before he asked, "How are you doing?" 

 

She smiled, pulling a piece of paper out of the bend of Clark's arm before it could dive to the floor, "I'm fine." She handed it back to him as he slowly untensed his arms and began straightening his notes. "Whitney's doing better, too." 

 

"I'm glad to hear that," he smiled, knowing how horrible it must have been for him. "So," Clark began, running a hand through his hair to brush it off of his forehead, making a few pieces stick out at odd angles. Had it grown in the past week? Maybe he should get it cut. "When did you want those pies at the Talon?" Clark asked, remembering his delivery run that had to be carried out today. He'd already put it off a day because of the week's events, and now he was going to be even more late with it, "My dad's running to Metropolis for a few hours, and won't be back right away." 

 

"Actually, if it's all right with you, Whitney and I can come over and get them ourselves. I'll just have Melissa run the shop while I'm out," Lana replied, smiling sweetly at her friend. She wanted to get away from the coffee shop as much as possible nowadays, and this was the perfect opportunity to do so. 

 

Clark smirked almost sardonically, something he'd picked up from Lex, no doubt. Lana always had to have someone to sympathize for her, she was probably twisting Whitney's rattled state into something to make herself feel better for the own deaths that she couldn't let go. "Are you and Whitney back together?" 

 

Lana blinked, a bit thrown off by the question, frowning slightly before answering, "No, we've both just been really shook up over everything that's happened this week," she explained, crossing her arms over her chest, becoming slightly defensive as she sensed Clark's irritation. "We really only have each other for comfort, you know?" Her voice sounded soft, yet the unremorseful wave that surged through it was not over looked. 

 

"Yeah. I think I do," Clark said, with a slight smile. Lana returned it, bright and cheery, assuming her way was once again prominent before turning into the moving throng of students through the hall, making her way towards her next class. Clark sighed to himself and frowned at her back as she walked away, wondering how she could be so pretentious, before heading off in the opposite direction to his own class. 

 

@>*~ 

 

It was well after eleven in the morning when Lex rolled out of bed. He felt better because of it, too. With usually waking up at eight o'clock to get to work at the plant, he usually became tired by the end of his long days. But for the next few, he decided to sleep in if he could. Although, considering it was a major pain trying to get to sleep when visions of his father kept haunting his dreams, he wanted all the sleep he could get. 

 

A few steps down the stairs, he paused upon hearing the television. Listening for a moment, he surmised that Martha had the set tuned to the news that was being broadcast. Switching to stealth mode, he continued down the stairs quietly before stopping in his tracks as he was presented with a smirking picture of his father on the television screen. Closing his eyes as he was wracked with distressing images of that night came filtering through his mind's eye. 

 

He wished he hadn't heard the words that came out of the speakers, they only made it worse. 'LuthorCorp CEO, Lionel Luthor, was found stabbed to death in one of the rooms in the Luthor Estate in Smallville. Witnesses say they have no idea who the culprit might be, and law enforcement officers are still on the case. The billionaire and powerful corporate businessman's son and heir, Alexander 'Lex' Luthor, has declined to be interviewed. Experts say...' Oh, thank you. The words had stopped pounding through his head as he heard the warped sound as the television was shut off. 

 

Lex snapped back to reality and out of his troubling thoughts, opening his eyes and taking a deep breath before stepping down the rest of the stairs. "Lex," Martha said as she made her way back into the kitchen, "I didn't see you standing there." She smiled at him and as she rounded the island, leaned over on it as Lex pulled out a chair and sat down. "How are you feeling?" 

 

Lex had composed himself quickly enough that Martha hadn't even noticed the look of remorse he had across his face a moment ago; it had been replaced by a calm, although weary look. "I'm fine," Lex answered her, before looking a bit unsure and asking, "Where's Mister Kent?" 

 

Martha tsked at him and sighed, feeling almost resigned. "Lex," she chided, something he wasn't happy with receiving from a stranger, even if it was Martha Kent. He didn't like it from his father, or anyone else, but he was tired enough to let it slide. "Haven't we gone over this already? Call him Jonathan." 

 

Lex nodded his head, planning to let it go and attempt to be more at ease around her husband. "Anyway, he's in Metropolis getting a few things done," Martha said as she turned towards the fridge, opening it. "Want anything to eat?" She asked, looking over at Lex for his request, if any. 

 

He shifted in his chair, not feeling too well at the mention of food; his stomach was a bit upset from stress and he wasn't sure he'd be able to keep much down. "No thank you, Martha," he sighed at the look that told him he'd be force fed later on if he didn't eat at least something. "Maybe just some coffee?" He questioned with a small grin, hoping it would appease her. 

 

She smiled, knowing she shouldn't be pushing anything, but unable to help it; she was a mother, after all. She shut the door to the refrigerator and grabbed a cup out of the cupboard before reaching for the coffeepot. 

 

After pouring a cup and asking if he wanted anything else in it, she made her way over to the table. "So," she began as she set the cup down in front of him, "How'd you sleep last night?" 

 

"Fine, actually. The bed was pretty soft," he let out a small chuckle, considering it wasn't the same as he was used to and certainly wasn't made of the plush, expensive materials as his; it was a comfortable night, if fitful in other ways. Martha pulled out the chair at the end of the table and Lex smiled as she joined him. 

 

"Well, I'm glad to hear that," she smiled back at him and put a hand over his for a moment, squeezing comfortingly, glad to think he was going to fare alright in their house. "Clark should be home in a few hours from school," she said, beginning the conversation. She wasn't sure where to start, actually, since she didn't know Lex as well as her son. Assuming Lex would just want to relax today, she wasn't going to bring up anything important, just light friendly chatter. 

"Well," Lex said, taking a sip of his coffee, almost simply dismissing Martha's comment about her son, "So, what are we going to do today, then?" He smiled as he set his cup down before looking to Martha. She was almost stunned at the prospect of having Lex spend the next few hours with her, until school was out. She opened her mouth slightly to say something, but nothing came out for a moment. Lex held back on thinking that she didn't want him to bother her with his presence, but this was Martha Kent, of course she wouldn't really mind him being around. Right? 

 

The sudden stillness that had over come the female Kent melted away into a warm smile directed at Lex, before proceeding to enthusiastically name off a few things that she had to do today. A few orders to fill for baked goods, some outdoor work in her garden, and laundry. Lex had expected her answers and smiled back at her, hoping he didn't slow her down while she did her errands, and possibly even helping her out with them, making them go faster to make more time to relax later. He had woke up this morning thinking, 'I can't follow Clark to school like a sad, lost puppy, nor can I do farm work without Jonathan's head exploding. So, what else am I going to do? Sit inside and bake pies with Martha?' 

 

@>*~ 

 

Lex heard a creaking screen door open and slap shut, the noises followed by the loud shout that came from Clark's young lungs served to distract him. "Mom! I'm home," Clark called out as he stepped through the doorway, not finding anyone in the kitchen, he went to the living room. Finding Lex speaking into his cell phone, sounding rather irritated. 

 

"Yes," Lex said as Clark came into the room, jotting something down on the pad of paper in front of him. There was a pause as he wrote before, "Yes, I know. Just take care of it for me, alright?" Lex set his pen down and leaned his head back against the couch, his eyes closed. "Yes, by tomorrow afternoon." Another pause, "And Dom? Don't disappoint me." Lex dropped his arm down into his lap as he ended the call and let out a heavy sigh. He opened his eyes when he pushed the button and caught sight of Clark in the corner of his eye. He leaned his head back again, his eyes open this time, and he smiled tiredly up at his friend. "Clark, school let out already?" 

 

Clark smiled back, wishing Lex would take a break from work. He understood that these things needed to be taken care of. At least Lex hadn't turned their living room into a make shift headquarters for the time being. Clark would have to check the guest room, though. "Yep, just another day," Clark said as he made his way further into the room, tossing his bag onto the chair before sitting down next to Lex on the couch. "That was Dominic you were talking to?" 

 

Lex set the leg he had crossed at the ankle over the other back onto the floor and tossed the notepad onto the coffee table. "Yes," Lex said as he leaned back into the couch, with his eyes closed again. "My father had a lot of things going on with his company. He's left the entire corporation to me in his will, and now I'm stuck doing work not only for my company but for his as well," Lex said, bringing a hand up to his face and rubbing it wearily. "I'm too young for so much responsibility," Lex complained. 

 

Clark rubbed his boyfriend's arm comfortingly, "Why don't you just keep LexCorp going and give your father's company to someone else?" Clark asked as he glanced back to the kitchen and up the stairs behind them to make sure no one was around, that they were alone, before leaning in to give Lex a chaste kiss on the corner of his mouth. 

 

Lex almost smiled when he felt Clark's breath over his cheek, and the soft lips that pressed half against his own. "To get rid of the hassle, I'd love to. But this was my father's legacy, and I can't give it over to another so easily." That wasn't all, though. He didn't mind the work, just as long as he had time for it and it didn't give him too much of a headache. He loved what he did, and was good at it, but there really is a time when it begins to be too much. "As much as my father got on my nerves, and was never there for me, he was still my father," Lex opened his eyes and looked over at Clark, the smile actually making its way out. "Plus, I know he'd find some way to come back from the grave to yell at me if I ever let his company fall." 

 

Clark rolled his eyes, amused at Lex's sense of humor and the image of Lionel ghosting around after Lex. Clark got up from his seat on the couch as he spoke, making his way to the kitchen, "Well, I've got chores to get done before dad gets home. I shouldn't be too long," he said as he crossed past the table, grabbing an apple out of the fruit bowl sitting on top of it. "Oh, almost forgot," he turned to see Lex had followed him and was leaning against the fridge, hands in his pocket. Clark smiled at him. "If you see my mom before I do, let her know that Lana and Whitney will be over to collect the pies she made for them. Pete said he'd be over too, but I'm not sure what time." 

 

"Sure, no problem," Lex said with a slight nod, "Although, I now feel like I've been reduced to errand boy," a smile appeared and Clark knew he wasn't unhappy about it. It was the least Lex could do while staying in their house to pass on a little message, especially for Clark. Clark grinned widely at his friend before Lex heard another creak and slap against wood as the younger man left the house. 

 

@>*~ 

 

Whitney looked like he wanted to stop and back the truck out of the Kent's lane and go home. Having heard that Lex was here, Whitney had became a little tentative about the trip to Clark's house with Lana. He knew he wasn't to blame, but he just felt awkward around Lex for some reason. Not that he wasn't before, but he was even more so now. "Are you sure about this?" He asked as he stopped the truck beside the house. He turned to Lana and looked rather worried. 

 

Lana smiled brightly, hoping to reassure him, before unfastening her seat belt. "I'm sure," she said, moving to open the door. "He said his dad was out of town and wouldn't be back until later. I didn't want to slow Clark down on his already behind schedule today. I also wanted to see how Lex was doing." She looked back at Whitney after she stepped down out of the truck, seeing him look almost terrified. 

 

"Come on, Whitney," she chided. He was being ridiculous about this, "He was very good to me when Nell..." Lana stopped there, not wanting to bring it up again, the pain still prominent. "I just want to see how he is. We won't stay too long, and he doesn't feel the way you think he does towards you, he doesn't blame you, so don't worry." 

 

Whitney nodded his head weakly. She always managed to make him feel better when he felt so insecure. He just couldn't help but think he could have tried to help Mister Luthor before it got as bad as it did. "Come on," she prompted, sounding cheerful as she shut the door and started towards the house. Whitney turned the engine off and got out as well. 

 

At the sound of an engine, Clark had stopped what he was doing for a moment and looked up, hoping it was his father. He saw Whitney and Lana sitting in his truck, talking, before Lana got out and looked to be trying to coax her ex out. He watched for a moment and then Whitney shut the truck off, got out, and rounded the front of it, following Lana to the house. 

 

"Hey, guys," Clark shouted over to them with a wave for good measure. Whitney's head snapped up, startled, looking towards Clark. Lana smiled and threw an arm in the air, waving to him. Clark smiled before calling out again, "Mom's inside, just go on in." 

 

Whitney came back to himself then, as Lana grabbed his hand, pulling him out of his still rather stunned state. Clark frowned at them as he watched them go inside as he continued with his chores. When he finished, only a few minutes later, he went inside, finding three people sitting a bit tensely at the kitchen table. 

 

Lex looked relieved when Clark came in the house, almost smiling. He had been holding a half-assed conversation with Lana and was just a little set off by Whitney's reaction to him. Lana smiled at him and said hi, Whitney looked at him, tried to smile. Clark gave him a sympathetic look, assuming he was still shaken up over finding Lionel. Having only added to the tension in the room, Clark, and everyone else, were all thankful the level dropped when Martha returned. 

 

Martha noticed how they all focused more intently on her than anything else as she came back into the room. "Here you go, Lana," she said as she sat the heavy looking box down onto the end of the table where no one had sat down, so it wasn't in anyone's way. "Twenty; four apple, four pumpkin, four cinnamon sugar, four blueberry and four peach cobbler," she smiled and patted the box. 

 

"Thank you, Missus Kent," Lana said, smiling back at Martha. Clark was still standing, out of place in his own house, just a few steps past the doorway. Martha gave a questioning, pointed look at him and he promptly snapped out of it and gave a small smile, advancing into the room and taking a seat next to Lex. 

"I would have had them ready before hand, but Clark didn't mention that you were coming," Martha said, beginning a conversation. She'd gotten better at this today, having to get Lex chatting. Of course, she didn't *have* to, but she liked to help, and talking was good. She was sure Lex hadn't had anyone to talk to, besides Clark. She could sense he saw her as a mother figure, comparing her to his own memories, and she felt a pang of sadness for his past loss as well. 

Clark cleared his throat and turned to look at Lex, eyebrows raised, "Excuse me, 'errand boy?'" Clark teased, using Lex's earlier words, making Lex smile, "I thought I asked you to pass on that little message?" 

 

Lex held up his hands, coffee mug in one as he pushed his chair back gently and stood up. "Don't kill the messenger when he didn't even have a chance to deliver anything," he said before making his way into the kitchen, towards the fresh coffee brewing in the pot. "Your mother saw them before I saw her," Lex said as he poured some into his cup before turning around, and taking a sip of the fresh, hot liquid, leaning back against the counter. Clark simply scoffed, amused. 

 

Martha smiled at them. They got along so well together. She was glad Lex was gradually feeling more comfortable there as she watched him help himself to the coffee. "Oh," she said suddenly, drawing even Whitney's attention, "Would anyone like a snack? Some pie?" Already heading towards the kitchen, she got two answers right away, one delayed and one not at all. Lex had been interrupted when the voices from the kitchen had drawn him back from the edge of sleep. It'd been so long since he had a nap in the middle of the day, recalling Jonathan's mention of it while he was poisoned by those flowers. He was a bit hungry, though. 

 

"Lex?" Martha questioned, looking back from her place in front of the refrigerator. He looked up at her and still looked thoughtful for a moment before answering her. She frowned at him, he still hadn't eaten much more than a couple cookies that she'd noticed were missing from where they were cooling on the counter. 

 

"Let me help you," Lana said as she stood, much to Whitney's horror at being left at the table alone with the other boys. 

 

"Oh, thank you, Lana," Martha said over her shoulder as she set the pie onto the counter, and turned to retrieve some dishes out of the cupboard. 

 

"So, what'd you do today?" Clark asked, his question directed at Lex. Whitney was glad he was being ignored, but he was sure neither of the girls would leave that alone for too long. 

 

"Work," Lex responded simply, not elaborating any further, sure no one would really want to hear it besides Clark, or maybe Martha. But their interest only went so far. 

 

"Just work?" Lana asked as she returned, setting the plates and their contents down in front of two of the boys. An eyebrow raised in amusement that Lex would still be working, and only working, under Martha's watch. 

 

"Are you sure you don't want any, Lex?" Martha called back at him. She'd make him eat dinner, though. He had to eat, even if he was under stress. Stress and malnourishment didn't go too well together. 

 

Before he could respond, Martha's question interrupted him, his mouth half open and a breath drawn already. He smiled, she'd been bugging him about this all day. "Sure," he answered truthfully, and knowing how happy she'd be at wearing him down. 

 

"Yes, just work," Lex confirmed with a smirk. "Other than that, I sat around doing nothing. So, yeah, work was the only thing I 'did' today." Clark chuckled, glad that Lex was cheering up since he'd been there. 

 

Lana shook her head at him, a smile tugging at her lips at his answer as she turned to get her own dessert. As Martha shut the door of the 'fridge after putting the pie away, she grabbed Lana's plate off of the counter and handed it to the younger woman before making her way back to the table with Lex's. 

 

"Isn't it too close to dinner to be eating? Wouldn't want to ruin my appetite," Lex questioned as he picked up the spoon that was laid across the side of the plate, smiling at Martha. They had a good time talking today. 

 

The two boys at the table had focused themselves on their pie: Whitney because he wanted to have an excuse not to look at anyone and to have a mouthful so he was unable to speak temporarily, Clark because, well, he just liked pie. Clark became alert when Lex gave reference to the time, shoving his shirt from his wrist to expose his watch, he said, "Oh, darn. I have to do my deliveries and dad isn't back with the truck yet." Clark frowned, not wanting to be any later than he already was. He liked doing the deliveries and took pride in being on time and being a good service to their customers. He knew they'd understand why it was different this time, but he still felt bad for being late. 

 

Lana sat back down in her chair and Martha pulled out her own to join the rest of them, setting her own cup of coffee in front of her on the table. "Hmm, you're right. He should have been back by now," his mother said, a slight frown, making small creases appear across her forehead, "But you know how distracted he gets in the city." 

 

Lex smothered a laugh and a smile with his food, getting a silly image of Jonathan staring at all the big city lights. Not wanting to knock Jonathan, though. He was as surprised as the rest of them that the man of the house had started to get ready to warm up to him, like it was some hugely mentally draining task. He liked 'Jon', though. He did, even if the older man could be extremely closed minded and stubborn sometimes. "He'll be back by supper, I'm sure." Martha said confidently, not doubting her husband had a good reason for being late. 

 

Clark frowned. He didn't like that. Jonathan had work to do, and he had told Clark to free most of his evening for it, no matter if Lex was there or not, the work was not going to be put on hold to tend to a Luthor like servants. Not Clark's thoughts on the subject, obviously. "Oh, yeah. Pete said he'd stop by later, too," Clark added, as he stood and took his plate to the kitchen, placing it in the sink. 

 

"Fine with me," Martha said before taking a drink of her coffee. 

 

Feeling suddenly like he had been put on the spot when he'd spoken, drawing all the uncomfortable gazes he didn't want again. Whitney steeled his nerves and began, "Well," he didn't want to back down, so he started with a neutral word, in case he wanted to change his statement if those looks suddenly became ugly to him. "You can take my truck for a while if you want. Doesn't look like we'll be out of here for a while," with that, he smiled at Martha, and feeling a bit more comfortable now that he had said something to add himself to the conversation, if not much. 

 

"Really?" Clark asked, almost excited. Whitney had a nice truck. "I'd really appreciate it," he smiled as Whitney nodded, and he continued. "Thanks, man," Clark caught the keys easily when Whitney pulled them out of his jacket and tossed them to Clark, who said he'd be back shortly. 

 

"So, how are you two?" Martha asked, taking advantage of Whitney's change when she noticed it, "I haven't seen either of you since," she tilted her head slightly indicating what they knew she meant, but not wanting to really say it, "the other day." 

 

Whitney took a breath, deciding to work on this. He wasn't going to get over it if he didn't make an effort to. "I'm doing better." It was such a simple answer, he didn't think he should leave it there, though, and certainly not when the slight clink of the spoon as Lex hit it against the dish softly didn't make him feel any better about not saying anything to the man. "I wanted to go to the funeral," he said quickly, getting it out so he couldn't sit there with it on his tongue for another ten minutes, trying to decide whether to say it or not. 

 

"My mother said it probably wouldn't have been a good idea what with having, um," he paused, tensing up again, "You know." He finished awkwardly, feeling bad for bringing it up when Lex looked up at him. 

 

Lex swallowed the food in his mouth, glad he *had* eaten now, because he really had been hungry. And there would definitely be room for whatever Martha was preparing for the next actual meal. He looked intently at Whitney, making sure he didn't intimidate the boy, which is what he assumed was going on by the way Whitney was acting there. Lex nodded slightly as he spoke, "I understand." His voice was soft, and certainly portraying his understanding. Whitney felt better.


	4. Part 4

As soon as the engine was heard in the yard, Whitney and Lana stood up, preparing to leave. Footsteps were heard before the screen door was opened with yet another creak, and Clark came into the house. "Thanks again, Whitney," he said, handing the keys back to the blonde, "I owe you one." Whitney had loosened up a bit since Lex had apparently left the house, and Martha's warm and welcoming conversation definitely helped. He felt like he was going to be back to his old self soon. 

 

"Nah, don't worry about it, Clark," he said as he moved to pick up the large box full of pies, and carrying it out of the house. Lana smiled as she said goodbye and thanked Missus Kent for her hospitality, before she followed Whitney out of the house. 

 

"Well," Martha said as she stood up from her seat, leaning back against the table and getting ready to get back to her work, "That was a nice little visit. How'd your deliveries go?" She asked her son, who had gravitated over towards the refrigerator and was getting himself a drink of milk, using a glass for once; she smiled at him. 

 

"Went great," he said, smiling back. After downing his drink, he set the glass down and looked around, frowning slightly, "Where's Lex?" Not noticing until now that his friend wasn't in the kitchen like he was when Clark had left. Nor did he hear any sound coming from the living room. 

 

"Oh, he left a few minutes ago," Martha said, her forehead creasing slightly as she thought back to when Lex had left. He hadn't said much, just sort of excused himself and left the room. She didn't think he stayed in the living room, and never heard him ascending the stairs, either. "I think he might have went outside, to the barn, I'd assume." 

 

"Huh," Clark said, wondering why Lex would have left the house. He thought for a moment, "Dad isn't back yet?" That was odd, his father hated being late as much as Clark did. And there was only so much Jonathan could do in Metropolis. 

 

Martha sighed, "No, he's not." She looked worried, but still reassured. "Maybe he got tired and decided to stop somewhere for a rest, just to be safe," she left it almost as a question for Clark to tell her it wasn't too out there to actually happen. 

 

"Well, he was up pretty early this morning," Clark said, thinking it *was* a good explanation. Maybe the time spent in the big city had also helped to tire the older man? Martha was already in the kitchen, working on their meal. "Thanks, Mom," he said to her, she smiled at him as he left the house, leaving her to carry on with her things. 

 

@>*~ 

 

Leaving his mother with a creak and a slap of the door, he went out into the evening air, taking a deep breath before he started on his way towards the barn. Half way there, he saw a figure appear at the side of the barn. Clark squinted his eyes, ready to switch to x-ray vision before the figure grew into a familiar face. "Pete!" 

 

"I didn't see your car. When'd you get here?" Clark asked, now looking for Pete's vehicle, seeing it off to the side. Not where he usually parked, but it wasn't that unusual, its just a place to park, out of the way so no one would hit it in the middle of the night, if they were in a hurry. 

 

"About ten minutes ago," Pete said, still walking, closing the distance between the two of them, meeting just a ways in front of the barn. "You weren't in the loft, so, I went to check - " He was interrupted by Clark's name being called out from just inside the barn. Seeing Lex come out and walk towards them, he decided to end his sentence right there, not sure about drawing any attention to the storm cellar. 

 

"Clark!" Lex said as he came out of the barn door that was slightly ajar. "I heard voices, and you weren't in the barn, yet, so I came out." He stood a few feet away from the two, putting his hands in his pockets, sensing Pete's disapproval of his being there. 

 

"Hey, Lex," Clark said, smiling at his friend. Glad he didn't have to go looking for him if he'd have wandered off somewhere, and god forbid the cellar. Pete was frowning, almost glaring at Lex. His dislike for Lex was very obvious, making it clear with his expression and stance that he was rather upset that Lex was there, taking up Clark's time, leaving none for himself. 

 

"I'd better go," Pete said, moving past Clark and towards his car, "It's late and I've got homework. I'll see you tomorrow, man." Clark waved at him, and heard his car start, the lights come on, and start on his drive home. 

 

Clark sighed and looked at Lex, knowing he wasn't responsible for Pete's reaction, but he still felt bad. Lex shrugged and came closer to Clark, looping an arm around the younger boy's waist before stepping towards the house. Clark smiled, and leaned down to give Lex a quick kiss on the cheek. They walked in silence back to the farmhouse, and upon their arrival on the porch, Clark stepped out of Lex's arm and opened the door for his guest, gesturing for him to proceed him into the house. 

 

Lex grinned at his friend. "You know, you really should oil those hinges, or something," Lex said. Clark laughed, amused at how he could just imagine Lex had became irritated over the little creak all day, having no doubt heard it open and close several times. 

 

@>*~ 

 

The rest of the previous evening had gone well, with a nice meal and good conversation. Lex had slept better than the night before and had woken up early, when he'd heard Clark in the bathroom, brushing his teeth rather noisily, he thought, before hearing Clark's feet go down the stairs. Then Lex got out of bed, feeling much better. 

 

When Lex had made his way downstairs to the kitchen, he smiled at Martha and her cooking. His appetite had increased since he'd been here and he was glad for it. She made such wonderful food. After breakfast, Lex was feeling even better, "Well, since I seem to be up for it, shall I join you in your chores today, Clark?" 

 

Clark smiled, happy to see Lex was feeling better. Unsure of what the billionaire would actually help him with, but there was no reason he couldn't tag along and keep him company. It'd take longer without using his abilities, but that didn't matter if Lex was there. "Sure," he replied, taking his dishes to the kitchen and handing them to his mother. 

 

"Where's mi...Jonathan?" Lex asked, catching himself before Martha could say the same thing she said yesterday to him about her husband. This time he was asking because he was curious, not to avoid confrontation. Clark seconded the query, before he turned around and looked out of the window above the sink, seeing his father's truck sitting in the yard. 

 

"The truck's back," Clark pointed out sounding happier to know that his father was back and not stuck somewhere or hurt. He felt like he should have went looking for him last night, but his mother told him not to worry. 

 

"Hmm, he's not been inside, yet," Martha said, taking the dishes from Clark. "I thought I heard something running a while ago, so maybe he's just getting an early start." 

 

@>*~ 

 

Lex and Clark were on their way towards the barn to take care of the morning's chores that he was responsible for. Passing the Kent's truck on the way, Lex smelled something particularly not nice, but kept it to himself. They were on a farm, he reminded himself. "Looks like he *is* getting an early start," Clark said as they got closer to the barn. 

 

"Dad! Hey, Dad," Clark called as he caught sight of his father around the barn. Jonathan's leg stuck out from around the barn, and Clark assumed he was just working under some equipment. He frowned when his father didn't answer him, also thinking that Jonathan should have waited for him, or came and got him before doing something as dangerous as he was apparently doing. They continued walking and as they rounded the corner of the barn, Clark froze. The color drained out of his features as he saw his father's leg. Only his father's leg. 

 

Lex observed the scene. As gruesome as it was, he couldn't tear his eyes away. Much different than his own father's death. This was horrible. An utter mess had been made of Jonathan Kent. He'd been stuck head first into the wood chipper, which had apparently stalled upon not being able to chop through the bone that was lodged between it's blades, blood oozing out of the cross section of flesh still around it. 

 

His body had been shredded, and spewed out of the other end of the wood chipper to land in a bloody pile of gore a few feet away. His arms had been dislocated from the body as it was shoved into the thrashing blades, dropping off to the sides of the machine, bloody and with tattered flannel sleeves still adorned. The leg Clark had seen had been dragged across the ground, leaving a bloody smear up to where it lay. The other was a few feet away, with its own trail of blood, leaving the thick red liquid to puddle around the limb as it seeped out. It seemed to Lex's methodical mind that the bone stuck in the machine was Jonathan's pelvis. 

 

Lex was disgusted with himself for being able to stare at the scene and think what he did. Surmise the exact way it had been done, while Clark stood in horror at the scene. "No, no. No! *No*!" He shouted at the remains of his father. He turned around so quickly, almost running straight into Lex, face first. He stumbled as he pushed Lex to the side, almost knocking him to the ground. Lex regained his balance and started after the running Clark to the house to try and break the horrible news to Martha. 

 

@>*~ 

 

My, that was too damn easy. Just too fucking easy. A few dozen blows to his head here, a wood chipper there; that's all I had to do. I felt like laughing up into the sky after I was finished, but that would have drawn too much attention. They're going to have to figure out it was me sooner or later. I can't believe I've gotten so careless. Oh, but damn it sure felt good. He was mine, only mine. It just wouldn't do, letting that scum into his house. Pleas and cries were music to my ears as blood trickled out of his, draining the life out of him. I needed him all to myself, and this way I'll do it. I just need to learn restraint. That's it. If they find out it was me all this time... No, I can't let it happen. I won't. I can hear them laughing, laughing at me. Poking fun, but I'll show them. All of them. Dropping that man's head onto the bed of his truck, hearing the crack of his skull, doing no more damage to kill him; he was already dead. Yet another to have found and pointed the finger at me. Ha! I'll stop them all before they even get a chance, they can't touch me. They'll suspect nothing. 

 

@>*~ 

 

Lex had been too stunned to start running right away, but when he snapped back to reality, he began running frantically after Clark, trying to catch up before his friend made it into the house. Clark was in no shape to let his mother know what had happened, what they'd found. "Clark!" Lex called ahead to him. He needed to be strong for the three of them right now, putting his own personal loss aside and dealing more with it later. This was too fresh to drop in their laps, the pain and loss too sudden. "Clark, wait!" 

 

Clark didn't stop or turn around at Lex's voice, didn't even falter when he was asked so pleadingly to wait, he just kept on heading towards the house. He had to tell his mother. Not even sure if he could face anyone right now, he squeezed his eyes shut as he got onto the porch, stopping to take a deep breath to try and calm himself before going into the house. He flung the screen door open and stepped into the room, trying to draw his inhuman strength to him for the task of speaking to his mother. Martha looked up from her book when the door was pulled roughly open; she stared at Clark. He couldn't say anything. He looked at her and he broke, two tears racing each other down each cheek before he bolted, and ran as fast as he dared up to his room. Slamming the door shut behind him before he threw himself face first onto his bed, smothering his face into his pillow as he cried his heart out into his bedding. The tears of sorrow and horror soaked into the soft materials as his shoulders began to shake violently as the pain wracked through his body. 

 

Martha stood up quickly, almost knocking the chair backwards onto the floor, before starting towards the stairs, going to follow Clark and see what was wrong. She was pulled back by the sound of the door opening again, and Lex walking into the house, looking a bit flushed and out of breath. Taking in the expression on his face when he looked up to meet her eyes, her face became riddled with concern as she changed course and moved over to his side, "Lex, what's going on?" 

 

Lex closed his eyes, trying to force his will onto his erratic breathing, to steady it. He looked at Martha for a moment before he could even think of saying what he had to say to her, knowing that Clark hadn't been able to say anything. "Martha, we f...found Jonathan..." 

 

He couldn't get more out; he had to stop. This was a woman who had become very dear to him, almost a second mother to him; he couldn't bear to break her heart, but keeping it from her would be even worse. "Well, that's good," she said after his words. Her face had brightened at the mention of her husband, but it soon faded away when doubt set in, "Right?" 

 

"Martha," he began, starting to look even more stricken than he had before, if that were possible. He wasn't sure how to proceed, or if he could even get it out. "We went out to the barn, and..." He paused, trying to control his breath from hitching, "Jonathan... was there, he was murdered. I'm sorry," he was almost whispering as he finished, almost hoping that he hadn't said it, maybe it wouldn't be true if he did. Perhaps whispering would ease the blow, but he sorely doubted it. 

 

She froze when she heard the soft words spoken to her, the hand on his arm had loosened its grip and slipped off limply to hang at her side. Her mouth hung open as her eyes welled up with unshed tears, threatening to spill soon. Lex saw her sway slightly and was unsure of what to do. He stepped the foot between them and reached out his arms, bringing them around her. Martha leaned into him and held on tight, her fingers digging into his arms, through the sweater he had on. Lex heard a soft, muffled sob as she let her emotions out, and hoped she'd be alright. He rubbed a hand over her back and tried to calm her, hoping *everything* would be all right. 

 

@>*~ 

 

The next morning was heralded with more tears from the recently widowed. Clark hadn't come out of his room since he'd ran upstairs the night before, not coming out for anything. Lex had tried to coax him out, but was only answered by muffled cries that he couldn't make out. When he'd tried to open the door, he couldn't, thinking Clark must have shoved something against it. Lex had gone back downstairs, hoping he could at least soothe Martha's pain. She had fallen asleep on the couch, unable to sleep in her bed without Jonathan. Lex had stayed awake all night, trying to be there for everyone, even while they were asleep, or holed up in their bedrooms. Since when had he become their emotional support? Especially after everything that had happened in his own little world, he wasn't sure he would even be good at giving any kind of support. To add to it, it wasn't as if he was experienced with this sort of thing. 

 

Yawning, he picked up his cup of coffee, and made his way back into the living room. He sat down in the chair across from the couch, sipping the lukewarm liquid. Earlier he'd been interrupted by his cell phone, ringing rather insistently. Apparently there were some dealings that he had to personally over see in Metropolis later that afternoon, sitting in for his father. He tried telling Dominic that he just couldn't leave right now, but his father's assistant had told him firmly that Lionel's business partners weren't taking no for an answer. These were the days he really hated his life. He sighed before taking another sip of his coffee, before he heard a creak of the upstairs floorboards. He sat up straight in the chair and waited, watching the stairs, hoping that Clark would be coming down. 

 

Lex sighed, the breath leaving his body sitting heavily in the chair, when he caught sight of white socked feet coming down the stairs slowly. He continued watching until a red face and tear stained Clark made his way sluggishly down the stairs. Putting his coffee cup down on the table to the side of his chair, he got up quickly, "Clark," he called to his friend, drawing the younger man's eyes to his own. "How are you feeling?" He walked purposely towards his friend and only barely hesitated for a moment before settling a hand on Clark's lower back. 

 

The hand lingered there as Clark pushed past him, and he followed, holding his hand there comfortingly. Clark sniffed back a few tears as he made his way through the kitchen, getting a cup of coffee for himself. Lex had dropped his hand and stood on the other side of the island, waiting for his friend to speak. Clark looked out the window into the slightly cloudy Kansas day, he sighed and took a drink out of his cup before he turned around, looking straight at Lex. 

 

"How do you think I'm doing, Lex?" Clark bit out at him, sounding very angry. "If you hadn't noticed," a razor edge of sarcasm underlining his words before he continued, "My dad is dead. I'm not doing too well." His voice wavered at the last, threatening to break in his fragile state. He couldn't hold it any longer, staring into Lex's eyes as the man came around the end of the counter and held an arm out to him. Deep sadness was painted across Clark's face before he rejected the offered embrace and brushed past Lex, walking back into the living room. 

 

Clark sat down gently on the couch, the movement waking his mother. The blanket that Lex had placed over her shifted, and she pushed herself up slightly on her elbows. Still not fully awake, she blinked her eyes and called out sleepily for her husband, "Jonathan?" 

 

Lex had come quietly back into the room and sat back down in the chair he'd made himself comfortable in. At Martha's first movement, he was glad she was awake. He knew he shouldn't hope for her alone to fix Clark, make him like he was before. And that was, quite frankly, a very selfish thing to think. He wanted everything to be right, but it would never be, with the empty gap that was now Jonathan Kent in their hearts. He and the man had gotten along in the past few days he was around the house with Lex present as well, and although they never admitted to becoming a slight bit happier with the other, they both knew it. 

When Lex heard Martha ask for her husband, he tensed, unsure of how to handle it. Clark had chose then to speak up, take the pressure off of his friend, and answer his mother. "No, Mom. Remember?" Clark asked rather softly, a lot different than his words in the kitchen. He squeezed his eyes shut, pushing a tear for each cheek out of his eyes, "Dad's dead." His words were blunt and harsh, before he took another drink of his coffee and set it down on the table. He was upset, it was all he could do right now. 

 

Clark felt hurt. His father was gone, and nothing would make it better. His father was his role model, even if Jonathan wasn't the most original with his teachings, or best one for the job; Clark wouldn't have had anyone else fill his place if he had a choice. He missed him, and he wasn't sure if he'd ever get over that feeling of loss that had crept up to the back of his throat the previous day. 

 

Martha's hopeful look as she sat up was completely crushed upon her reception of Clark's words. Her face fell, and she summoned all the strength she could as she sat up, and pushed the blanket aside. "Clark," she said, almost desperate, hoping her powerful son could somehow bring her mate back. Wrapping her arms around her distraught son, she pulled him against her and kissed the top of his head. Clark was still for a moment, pulled sideways against his mother as she projected her sadness towards him in exchange for comfort. He needed it, she needed it, and he finally let go and brought his arms up and around her. Softly pushing her head down onto his shoulder, Clark held her, hoping his arms would be reassuring. She began her gentle crying from the night before, and Lex almost felt he was intruding. 

 

Even if he had been the one to hold her earlier, and knew just how nerve wracking it could be to hold a woman weeping over her husband, he was no match for her own son. They should call the police, Lex thought, but he didn't want to over step any emotional boundaries. If Martha or Clark weren't ready to have anyone around them, he shouldn't put them into a situation he could have avoided. 

 

When Martha had calmed down more, she pulled away from Clark, and he left an arm around her shoulders comfortingly. "Thank you, Lex," she said, very earnestly at him. "You were such a help last night..." She felt almost like she should repay him, but she supposed they actually have done enough for him. With taking him in when his own father passed, and her and Clark's support, they really had no need to repay him in any way. 

 

"Martha," Lex began, laying a hand over top of hers, "I was glad I could do anything at all." He gave a smile, hoping it would provoke one from the older woman, and he was rewarded for his efforts; she sniffed as elegantly as she could and smiled back, before letting out a sudden laugh, surprising both of the boys. 

 

"I must look terrible," she grinned, holding a hand up to her face, almost embarrassed. She leaned into Clark and smiled to herself for being silly. It still hurt, but she had to be strong, knowing she had her boy to take care of. 

At his mother's laughter, Clark felt his heart rise a little bit. Glad she was becoming cheerful in this painful time for them, it was a good sign. He felt a smile tugging at his lips, but he had to ask, "What?" He sounded almost incredulous as he asked, his smile breaking out and he hugged his mother tight. 

Lex was honestly startled at Martha's laugh, that he had stilled completely and watched the two in front of him intently before they both had small smiles on their faces. He couldn't help but relax in the presence of her smile, even if it was surrounded by the tired lines of worry etched into her face. He patted her hand, his smile growing, although his face still showed all of the concern he had for his friend's and his mother's well being and future. 

 

"Well," Martha said, sitting up straight and taking a breath, "I suppose we should start taking care of things." She hoped the farm would be alright, and of course Clark's future. She wouldn't want to sell the farm, or do anything totally different, but she didn't know what was in store for them at that point. But, leave the future ahead of them. No sense trying to pull it towards them when they still had much smaller things to take care of before tackling financial situations. "We should call the police," she said, her voice soft and filled with sorrow under its comforting tones. 

 

After the three of them had made it into the kitchen, settled at the table with cups of coffee while Martha dialed the number, reaching the local police department. She fought to keep her tears at bay, and her voice steady, but only the latter was achieved. Ending the phone call and wiping at her cheeks, she said that they'd be over in an hour to investigate. All Clark could do was sit across from his mother and hope everything was alright. Hugs were all fine and wonderful, but he knew they only went so far. 

 

They were all interrupted by a light ringing tone coming from the living room; Lex's cell. He stood up from the table and had what could only be a disdainful grimace, walking to the living room. He stooped to pick up his jacket, where he had stuck his phone into a pocket the other day. "Yes?" He said, or snapped rather, he wasn't thrilled to have another phone call right now. He hadn't really been listening to Dominic earlier, and that fact wasn't lost on the older man. "Today?" He asked, irritation slipping into his voice, but at least he wasn't as angry. The reminder of his deceased father happened to still be a very sore spot inside of him, and he knew he had to be responsible. "This afternoon?" 

 

"Can it not be rescheduled?" Still trying to have all the time he could to spend with Clark and Martha; he had to at least try. "Alright," he said, followed by a sigh, a pause, "Yes, Dominic, I'll be there." 

 

Another sigh and Lex slapped his cell shut after terminating the call. He made his way back into the kitchen where he sat down beside Clark, the younger man putting a hand to his shoulder and rubbing softly. Lex wasn't sure if Martha would be alright if she knew how comforting and familiar that touch was to him, but now was not the time to be telling her something like, 'Your son is gay, and is romantically involved with me, by the way.' 

 

"Do you have to leave?" Clark asked, almost tentatively, his hand stilling over Lex's shoulder blade. Martha sat across from the table, a tissue in hand as she watched them, and listened to what was going to happen. Lex really didn't want to leave, but this was the price he had to pay for being involved in such large corporate businesses. 

 

"Yes," Lex said, his desire to stay obvious from his tone. "I have to sit in for my father in an important, unreschedulable meeting," Lex almost scoffed, amused at his doubt of a simple word. He was almost a walking dictionary at times, and hated to be illiterate, even in times like this, "Is that a word?" 

 

Clark smiled at his friend, and Martha laughed for the second time that morning. Lex smiled too, again happy that the mood was at least still brightening despite the surrounding circumstances. He caught himself before he reached that hand of his up to smooth it across Clark's cheek, wishing he could stay with his friend. The look in Clark's eyes told him that he felt the same way. 

 

Martha cleared her throat softly at their lengthy stare. They broke away and both looked to her, trying to play the innocent card. She smiled at them and tilted her head, almost as if to say, 'Aww, look at you two; so cute.' 

 

Before either of them could say anything, the phone rang and Martha stood up to cross to its holder to pick up the receiver, answering the call. "Hello?" Her voice faded as she absently walked further into the kitchen and faced away from the boys. 

 

Seeing that her eyes were no longer on them, Lex leaned closer to Clark, placing a gentle kiss against half of the still puffy eyed boy's lips. Clark was looking into his eyes as he pulled back, and he gave a small, hopeful smile. "You can come to Metropolis with me if you want?" It was more of a question than a statement, and Clark saw Lex's want not to be separated from him. 

 

"I can't," Clark said, after a moment. Martha had hung up the phone as she came back to the table, Clark watched her sit back down. The regret he'd feel for leaving his mother alone was the reason he declined Lex's offer. "I can't go," he repeated, looking back to his friend. "I don't want mom to be alone," he said softly, looking down at the table, his head spinning with the conflicting desires and emotions running through it. 

 

"It's alright, Clark, you don't have to come," Lex said, it was his turn to rub his hand over Clark's back as he stood up. "Your mother needs you here, I'm sure," he said, before he turned and headed to the living room. He reentered the kitchen, carrying his suit jacket. 

 

Martha watched the two of them alternately, seeing how much they didn't want to part. The looks they gave each other, the feelings that were practically radiating between them were more than just friendship supplied. Clark looked up at Lex when he'd appeared at the table again, the older man looked to be waiting, and hoping, for Clark's answer to change. Clark looked lost, like he didn't know what to say. Martha was sure he didn't and being the loving and wonderful mother she was, she stepped in to help out. 

 

"Well," she began, "I guess Caroline is coming over." Clark looked at her, not knowing what to say, only waiting for her to continue. "And with the police and everything being here, it'll be rather crowded. I wouldn't want you to feel suffocated here when you could have relaxed in Metropolis." 

 

Clark had his mouth half open to protest when she held up a hand to stop him, "Clark, I'll be fine. I'll have my friend here, and I'll have support." She stood from her seat and smiled at them as she crossed over to her son, practically pulling him up from his seat. 

 

"Mom..." Clark began, standing pliantly to her guiding arms. He wanted to go with Lex, but he wanted to stay with her. He knew she'd be fine, and would have her hands full with the police, and he wouldn't want to have her mind have to worry about his reaction to the attention. She looked up at him, her expression telling him that he was fighting a losing battle; she knew he wanted to go, and to stay, but he couldn't have both. "Alright," he sighed, hugging her warmly before releasing her, and making his way up stairs to change his clothes. 

 

Martha turned to Lex, smiling at him. "I don't mean to shove him into your lap, I know you have a busy day filled with important work, but he needs to be with someone who cares and can comfort him. I'll be busy enough myself today," she stepped closer to Lex, who had moved closer to the door, ready to leave and anxious to get this work done so he could be back here with his basically adoptive family. As much as he loved Greek history and mythology, it wasn't incest if they weren't blood related, so that was good. 

 

"It's fine, Martha, he's welcome to join me," Lex said, bringing a hand up to her shoulder, and being presented with a warm hug for himself. He was a bit stunned at the contact, but his arms relaxed slowly and he hugged back, as Clark came back down the stairs, a small bag in tow. "Ready, Clark?" He asked, hoping Clark wouldn't change his mind and want to be driven back to Smallville five minutes after they got there. 

 

"Yeah," he said quietly, looking longingly at his mother, and he wasn't even out the door yet. He walked straight to her and latched on, hugging her tightly before he pulled away and stood, eyes fixed in the distance as not to meet either his mother's or Lex's eyes. 

 

"Go on, Clark. I'll be fine," she smiled and pulled him down to give him a kiss on the cheek. Almost herding them both out of the door, she hoped he wouldn't feel like she was trying to get rid of him, getting him out of the house before he could change his mind on going. She only wanted what was best for him, and she knew he wouldn't want to be kept on the farm while the police did their work. She stood on the inside of the screen door, watching them walk to Lex's car. Seeing Clark turn around, she waved to him, and he waved back. He turned and got into the car, and she sighed to herself and planned out her hectic day as best she could. 

 

@>*~ 

 

The drive to Metropolis was spent almost completely in silence, just the occasional comment from Clark on a sight he'd found interesting along the way, but most of the time it was quiet. Lex was equally dividing his attention to the road, and to his friend. He would hear the soft sighs Clark would let out, but the boy never said anything other than comment on passing tourist interest, just stared out of the passenger side window. 

 

As they were nearing the outskirts of the city, Clark blinked, making sure he was seeing what he thought he was, he frowned. Confused as he watched them turn left instead of right on the exit in front of them, "I thought we were heading to LuthorCorp Headquarters?" He asked, frowning again when a sign off his right read, 'Welcome to Luthor Towers.' 

 

"Well," Lex said, pulling the car up to the garage, "I didn't think you would have appreciated me holing you up in a boring and stressful meeting." 

 

"Oh. True," Clark admitted as Lex drove a few levels up in the garage. "Your father sure liked putting his name on everthing; you ever noticed that?" Clark raised an eyebrow at yet another 'Luthor Towers' sign inside the garage, near the elevator. 

 

"Yes, Clark," Lex chuckled, "I noticed." He pulled into his personal parking space and shut the engine off. "Anyway, I thought you could stay in my apartment while I'm at the conference," Lex paused, hoping he wasn't assuming too much, and of course not wanting to have Clark be alone, but it was better than subjecting him to even more stress than he'd been through lately. He was sure Clark would have as good of a time as he could, with being in another location other than the Kent Farm... and there were plenty of things Clark could busy himself with while he was in the apartment. 

 

As the two of them got out of the car, they made their way towards the elevator. Lex dug through his coat pockets as they walked, looking for the keycard that would allow them access to the top floor of the building where the Luthor's apartments were located. Once he found it, he held it up, brandishing it like a trophy, winning a grin from Clark. He inserted the card into the little slot along the panel on the wall beside the elevator doors, and pushed the button to bring it down to meet them. The doors opened a moment later with a lovely little ding, they got inside and Lex pressed the button for his floor. 

 

Clark stood a few feet past the doorway after Lex had led him into the spacious apartment. He stood, blinking at the furniture and, well, space; his whole house wasn't as big as the living room area was. "You know, I'm kind of wishing I was rich right about now," he said to Lex, who had already made his way over and had set his keys and wallet down onto the table in the far corner. 

 

Lex laughed, turning around he said, "I see," he mock pouted at Clark, "It was all about my money. Hrmph," he sniffed dramatically before grinning at Clark, walking back to the door, removing his coat along the way, and hanging it on the coat rack by the door. Clark shook his head at Lex and smiled back, letting his laughter out softly, almost to himself, as he headed towards the couch. 

 

"Lex," Clark called, "How many channels do you have?" He sounded rather stupefied as he flipped through the channels on the television. He'd plopped down onto the soft plush couch, grabbed the remote off of the coffee table which he promptly lifted his feet onto after shucking off his shoes, and flipped the tv on. 

 

Lex spoke as he was coming out of the kitchen, "Two hundred and fifty," he said matter of factly, "Why?" 

 

"Nothing," Clark shrugged, tilting his head back to glance at Lex, smiling before he turned back to the television. 

 

Lex frowned curiously and walked over to the couch, he smirked as he saw what lark was watching; cartoons. Leaning down, he gave Clark a kiss on top of his head, "I need to get cleaned up before my meeting. Will you be okay out ere?" 

 

Clark looked back up and smiled. "Yes, Lex. I think I can handle the remote control all by myself, but if I need help, I'll be sure and holler for you." 

 

"Smart ass," Lex mumbled against Clark's cheek before he planted a quick kiss on the teen. He straightened and moved back around the couch, making his way down the hall towards his bedroom. 

 

Clark sat for the next ten minutes, watching his cartoons. He was wondering what was taking Lex so long, when Lex's bedroom door opened and he emerged. 

 

"How long are you going to be?" Clark asked, removing his attention from the television long enough to glance at his friend. 

 

"Not too long hopefully. I have no idea what these 'business associates' of my father's want. For all I know, they might try to talk me into letting them buy all of LuthorCorp," Lex said as he walked back towards the couch. He still didn't want to leave Clark by himself, but he was starting to cheer up and Lex felt a bit better about being gone, but not much. 

 

Clark looked up to smile at Lex. "Which I'm sure you won't let happen, right?" He laughed as Lex frowned down at him. "I thought so." 

 

"Well, I'm gone. I'll see you in a few hours. Make yourself at home while I'm out," Lex said as he leaned down to place a soft kiss onto Clark's lips. Lex stood up, and made his way to the door, he opened it and looked back at Clark, "Bye." 

 

Clark looked over at him and repeated the departing vocal gesture, "Good bye." 

 

Clark stared at the door after Lex had shut it behind himself, he suddenly felt startlingly alone. He sighed and turned his attention back to the television, seeing the end credits for the program he had been watching. He pressed the power button on the remote and the image on screen collapsed in on itself and went black. He pulled his legs up underneath himself on the couch as unwanted memories of his father plagued his mind once again.


	5. Part 5

Clark sat on the couch with his thoughts, his previous good mood slowly slipping like sand through his fingers. He looked down at his stomach when he felt the acids in it churning, and it growled at him. He sighed, looking back up to the television, he wasn't really in the mood for any more cartoons, or any other type of show for that matter. He pulled his feet out from under himself and set them on the floor before pushing himself up. He didn't know how long Lex would be gone, and he'd be more hungry than he was now if he waited for him to return before eating. 

 

He made his way into the kitchen and started opening random cupboards, rummaging through the kitchen, looking for something to eat. Realizing he hadn't eaten anything all day, besides having a cup of coffee to drink, and considering what his appetite was usually like, he was pretty hungry. Although the recent events had taken a toll on his eating habits, he still had to eat and he had been lacking in doing that lately. 

 

Opening a drawer, he stared at its contents. Tea towels. Okay, so he wasn't quite looking for *food* yet, mostly just trying to take his mind off of things by exploring the kitchen. Curiously, he shoved the towels aside to see what else was in the drawer. Seeing a book coil sticking out from the side of the towels, he slid it out from underneath the nicely folded fabrics, not wanting to mess them up. A cook book. Well, he supposed a kitchen wouldn't be complete without at least one cook book; his mother had tons of them. The front of the book was interesting, covered with many yummy looking dishes. He started flipping through the pages, finding several things that looked appetizing. 

 

By the time he had skimmed through the entire thing, he had several fingers stuck between the pages, book marking the things he thought were interesting. He got an idea and a slow smile started to grow on his lips, he began to carefully fold the corners of the pages down, hoping no one would mind. Recalling that he'd seen most all of these ingredients already in the cupboards that he'd searched through, he opened the refrigerator and looked inside, pushing a bottle aside to make sure there was everything he needed. He smiled, everything was here for what he wanted to try out. 

 

Setting the book back down on the counter, he revisited the pages he'd marked, picking which he should make first. As he started gathering the ingredients, he remembered Pete always made fun of him for being at least a half-assed cook. He couldn't spent so much time in the house around Martha without learning a thing or two; not all guys were horrible cooks. 

 

Clark didn't really have that big of an interest in it, but he'd still learned, knowing when he got older he'd rather survive on half home cooking and take out, rather than all take out. When his mother was gone, it wasn't just pizza and soda while watching television; occasionally Clark would cook. It was a good experience and time for father/son bonding, while his father supervised. 

He sighed, staring at the pile of food stuffs he had accumulated on the counter top. He should get into the cooking, as a reminder to his memories of his father, but still to try and get his father's death, along with everything else, off his mind. 

 

@>*~ 

 

Clark was all but bouncing on his heels. Happy that his cooking had gone so well, he had cheered up a lot more. Picking up the spoon he had been using to stir things, he brought a spoonful of his food up to his mouth, taste testing. He smiled; everything was almost done, just a few more minutes. Opening a few cupboards before finding the dishes again, he grabbed two and some glasses before making his way out to the living room/dining room. 

 

There was a large table with chairs near the far wall, the opposite to the one the television was against. He set the dishes down and arranged them, wondering if Lex would like what he made. He almost felt like a newly wed housewife, making supper for her husband, worrying about what he'd like and if it was alright or not. Would Lex even eat? He hadn't had anything all day either, unless he had something when he was gone... No, it was alright. Lex would like this. 

 

Going back into the kitchen to double check on things before he returned to the living room, standing, hands on hips, wondering what he could do before Lex returned and the food was done. Exploring seemed to be going well today, so, making his way over to the book cases that sidled up beside the television's entertainment center, he scanned over the titles before finding something of interest. Sitting down, he opened the book and waited for Lex to come home. 

The lock on the door jiggled and Clark's heart sped up, he closed and set the book down on the table and stood as the door began to open. Lex stepped through the door, not even looking up to see Clark, but turning his back to him and shutting the door, relocking it. When he faced Clark he had a strange look on his face, almost curiosity, but there was something else as well. Had Clark ordered food? Or found some really strange scented candles. Not like he had scented candles. Really. He breathed deeply, taking in the smells. He smiled, looking at Clark curiously, the smile almost turning into a smirk. Had Clark cooked for him? "Uhm," he said, not quite sure what to say. 

 

Almost afraid that Lex was in a bad mood, with him not even looking up, Clark waited for him to turn around. He smiled at the look on Lex's face before his first word, if you could call it a word, since he had made it through the door. "I cooked dinner for us," Clark provided, still smiling as he moved over to Lex, who was still standing by the door, and gave him a kiss on his slack lips. 

Clark pulled back and Lex's smile strengthened as he put a hand behind Clark's head, pulling him back for another kiss before letting him go. He was quiet as he walked into the living room, taking his jacket off on the way and tossing it down onto the chair. "I don't know what to say, Clark," he said honestly, still surprised. Clark cooked; for *him*, no less. 

 

Clark almost snorted indelicately, but he let out a short laugh, feeling silly for what he was about to say, "Well, your line *was*, 'Honey, I'm home!'" He grinned at Lex as he fought back a blush, making his way back into the kitchen. 

Lex's mouth dropped open slightly, staring at Clark, before he smiled and chuckled, following after his friend, into the kitchen. "Well, *honey*, let's see just what you cooked up in here while I was gone." 

 

@>*~ 

 

After dishing up their plates, they sat down at the table and Lex took another bite of his surprisingly tasty food. He was almost amazed at how well Clark had done with his cooking. Knowing that no doubt Clark had spent a lot of time around Martha while she had been cooking while growing up, but he didn't think he would have paid much attention in order to learn how to cook so well himself. His timing was perfect as well, dinner had been ready when Lex got back, and dinner had gone well, with light chat and smiles all around. Lex had made sure to compliment Clark on his culinary skills after the first bite. Clark had looked so proud and happy. 

 

When they were finished eating, they carried the dirtied dishes into the kitchen, placing them into the sink, scheduling their cleaning for later. Returning to the living room, they made their way over to the couch. Lex sat down, and watched as Clark continued over to the stereo system. Turning it on, Clark scanned down the vast assortment of CDs that were housed next to the stereo in tower. After he'd picked one out, he smiled and set it to play in the stereo before joining Lex on the couch. 

 

Clark sat and shuffled so his legs were firmly underneath himself, and scooted closer to Lex, leaning against him. He grabbed an arm and wrapped it around his neck, as Lex watched, amused, before smirking at the blatant act of snuggling that had ensued. When Clark finally stilled against him, Lex brought his hand up, from where it had been placed on Clark's shoulder, to run his fingers through his friend's hair. "So," Clark began, settling more into his self appointed role as house-wife-for-a-day, just as he had settled himself in against Lex, "How'd your day go?" 

 

Lex continued his soft petting motions as he replied, "Well, it didn't exactly go like I'd planned," he stopped there, and watched as Clark's hand started to undo the buttons on his shirt, pulling it out from being tucked into his pants. "There was yelling, and threats tossed around. Frankly it was horrible, but everything is alright; we went ahead with the buy out." 

 

"Yeah," Clark said, pulling the front of Lex's shirt out from his pants, "Doesn't sound like you had fun." Sliding the shirt over Lex's shoulder, Clark looked up and gave his best puppy dog eyes. Lex laughed and sat forward, taking his shirt off the rest of the way before turning back to Clark, who had already taken his own shirt off and had the top button of his pants undone. Damn, he was fast. 

 

Clark had a small grin on his face as he leaned back against the couch, his hips tilted invitingly, he was ready for this. Even if he was still shook up, and Lex probably was too, they were ready for this, it wasn't just a comfort thing like Lex had said after Chloe's death. Lex smirked and ran his hand up Clark's thigh, placing his palm over Clark's cock, which was growing harder by the second, before grasping the zipper and pulling it down. Clark wiggled his jeans off of his hips and Lex guided them down his thighs, and down his calves before they landed in a pile in front of the couch. 

 

Leaning over, Lex pressed his lips against Clark's as his hand brushed softly against Clark's cock, through his boxers. Clark parted his lips at the tongue that insistently slid against them, requesting entrance, he moaned into Lex's mouth when a hand squeezed his cock, making his erection full and hard in his underwear. The kiss deepened and Lex's hand slipped under the waist band of the boxers, wrapping his hand around Clark's cock he stroked twice, firmly, before taking his hand away and pulling his lips away from Clark's. 

 

Clark let out a small whine of disapproval before he let out a sigh, turning his head slightly away from Lex, and letting a look of sadness settle over his face. It was quiet for a moment while Lex watched his friend, seeing that Clark wasn't going to look at him on his own, he reached out and smoothed a hand over Clark's far cheek. "Hey," he said, gently turning Clark to face him. "What's wrong?" 

 

Clark sighed again, but he at least met Lex's eyes, "I miss my dad." That was all. He missed his father. Even if he'd never spent too much time with him other than doing farm work and eating dinner, Clark missed him. Lex let his hand rest over top of Clark's, he didn't know what to do now. It was sort of an awkward time to start mourning and grieve all over again. 

 

"I know how it feels," Lex supplied, speaking softly. He was surprised when Clark's head, which had drifted down to look vaguely at his chest, snapped up. The look on Clark's face was startlingly different than what he wore a moment ago. Clark sat up, almost pushing Lex off the edge of the couch. 

 

"No, you don't! Your father didn't love you, he hated you," Clark spit out at him, "Mine was caring, and he loved me; he loved me! You don't know how I feel." His voice had dropped lower, but the anger was still there, "I lost someone that was dear to my heart, all you lost was your last barrier to monopolizing the business world." 

 

Clark pushed past him as he stood, starting on his way towards one of the bedrooms. Lex sat there, not knowing what to say. He wasn't sure what had set Clark off to become so aggressive, but he couldn't just sit there and take it. Yes, Clark was upset, but it wasn't his fault, yet he was the one being blamed. Feeling the anger heating up inside of him, Lex gritted his teeth and stood up; he was not going to take this. 

 

"And for the record," Clark said, turning around, "You really have no right to complain about your day, you're rich and selfish, and you run one of the largest companies in the world. You have no idea what this feels like." 

 

Over coming the stun that had set in upon Clark's first little blow out, Lex let out the aggression that had so rapidly grown from a moment ago. He stood up and followed after Clark, catching up fast and grabbing the younger boy's arm, wrenching him back around to look at him, "And for the record?" Lex ground out between his teeth, his anger very much apparent in his features, "You have no idea what I've gone through in my life, so suck up your pathetic teenage angst." 

 

Twisting the arm in his grip around Clark's back and holding it tight up against the younger boy, Lex pushed Clark hard against the wall, leaning forward to speak into Clark's ear, "If I had grown up differently, maybe I would have been closer to my father. But that's not how things worked out, instead I hesitated to save his life during the tornado. It may not have been his first choice for his son to have acted like I have towards him in my life, but when it comes down to it, he did love me." 

 

Lex wrenched Clark's arm higher on his bare back, and reached down to undo his belt before unbuttoning and pulling the zipper down on his pants. Clark twisted and turned, trying to break the hold Lex had on his arm. Sure, he was strong enough to get out of it easily enough, though. He had been brought back to reality about a few things, and he was smart enough not to really try and fight back, for fear of actually hurting Lex, or exposing his secrets. 

 

Lex pushed Clark's arm even higher up the boy's back, eliciting a yelp of pain from him. It didn't really hurt so much as it was uncomfortable. Lex leaned forward to whisper, almost growl, into Clark's ear, "Quit wiggling, or I'll dislocate your arm." Lex sighed to himself when Clark kept wiggling against his wishes. "Fine," he snapped as he moved his arm higher and squished his face further into the wall. With his free hand finished undoing the fastenings on his pants, Lex let them pool around his feet before stepping out of them and kicking them to the side. 

 

Clark cried out again as he felt his arm moved higher up his back. He pushed himself away from the wall with his free hand only to have Lex grab it and twist it back to join the other, holding them both tight. Satisfied that Clark wouldn't move again, Lex continued with his undressing. When he was finished, and standing naked behind the younger boy, Lex moved his hand to Clark's boxer shorts, yanking them down the boy's thighs, and pushing them down to his ankles. Leaning in close to Clark's ear once more, Lex whispered roughly, "Get down on your knees and put your face against the floor." 

 

Clark struggled more, pulling at his arms in vain, for all he achieved was to be more uncomfortable when Lex pushed him harder up against the wall. "I'm not asking you, Clark," Lex ground out, becoming more angry as this went on, "I'm telling you. On the floor, *now*." Gritting his teeth to hold back his own growing aggression, Clark sunk slowly to his knees, Lex following him down to keep hold of Clark's arms. Once Clark was positioned on the carpeted floor, Lex switched hands and brought his right one towards Clark's mouth. "Suck," he ordered. When Clark pressed his lips tight together, and growled, Lex slapped Clark's ass hard, "I said, *suck* them!" He thrust his hand back in front of Clark's face once again, and Clark opened his lips. Shoving his fingers in roughly, Lex made sure to get them well coated with Clark's spit before he continued. 

 

Knowing how easily it would be to hurt his friend, bite Lex's fingers right off, Clark kept his teeth in check as he sucked, making sure to get them nice and wet. When Lex decided his fingers were wet enough for what he had in store, he pulled his fingers out of Clark's mouth with a string of saliva following them, and leaving a wet trail where it stuck to the side of Clark's face. Using his knee to spread Clark's legs apart more, Lex brought his hand to Clark's opening and roughly shoved his two fingers in. Clark bucked away from the abrupt penetration and cried out. 

 

"No, no," Lex said, with false caring in his voice, "Come back here. I'm not done with you yet." He did care, but he was still too angry to let this lesson go untaught. He moved forward on his knees a bit, with his fingers still firmly implanted in Clark's ass, and began to thrust them back and forth. Clark whimpered and forced himself to stay still, feeling his hole being stretched with the scissoring movements of Lex's fingers inside of him. After a few more thrusts of his fingers, Lex pulled them out and brought his hand to his mouth. Spitting a gob of saliva onto his fingers, he brought his spit soaked fingers down and rubbed his hand over his cock. 

 

He moved forward more, following Clark after he'd shied away from the impending action he knew was so close to happening. He wasn't afraid of it, but it was his first time, and he had never really imagined it like this. Feeling the head of Lex's cock touch against his hole, Clark gasped, a sharp intake of breath. "Breathe out, Clark," Lex said to him as he pressed his stiff and leaking erection harder against the small hole. Clark complied shakily, and Lex pushed forward into the hot, tight heat of Clark's ass. 

 

"Aaghh," Clark groaned out through gritted teeth as he was impaled on Lex's cock. He tried to pull away, and felt a slight burning as he pulled half of 

Lex's cock out of him, eliciting another groan. Lex grabbed at Clark's hips, holding on tight and pulling him back, shoving his cock back into Clark's ass. When Lex let go of his wrists, Clark pulled his arms forward to hold himself up, still trying to pull away, and Lex let him, only to push himself back in when he pulled the younger boy back against him. 

 

The burning feeling was back again, and it felt a bit better this time as it was rubbing the nerves almost raw inside of him. Clark could handle the pain, he kept his teeth grit together and he made sure he didn't squeeze too hard over Lex's cock, not sure what it would do, if it would hurt him. Again, he tried to pull away, and Lex still pulled him back. It felt better that time, too. Even underneath the hurt, that was slowly fading away, it felt good. 

 

As Clark pulled away again, Lex gripped his hips tighter and pulled him back, vaguely aware that this time, Clark had almost pushed himself back as well. It felt a bit rough around his cock, because of the lack of lube, but he wasn't going to last long anyway, this felt too good. He thrust a bit harder into Clark, making the teen gasp at the sudden movement. 

 

With his hands free of their previous confinement, Clark hurriedly moved his right hand down to his cock, stroking it roughly in time to Lex's frantic thrusting. His body becoming heavy to hold up, Clark dropped down to brace himself up, leaning on his elbow as he continued to pump his hand back and forth on his erection. Lex's thrusting slowed as he moved his hands from Clark's hips to his ass cheeks, digging his fingers into the flesh and spreading them as wide as he could, before picking up his pace once more. Clark's head dropped down, resting it on his forearm, letting his left hand's fingers twist through his hair, gripping it as a deep thrust from Lex hit his prostate, making him cry out in pleasure. 

 

Moving his hands back to Clark's hips, Lex began thrusting faster and harder with each movement, pulling Clark back against him hard. Lex had his head tilted back, eyes closed, feeling the pleasure as Clark's passage rubbed and squeezed over his sensitive cock, slight moans escaping his lips when Clark tightened himself a little harder over the intruding member that was shoved deep inside his body. Clark tried desperately to keep in rhythm with Lex's thrusts as he jerked himself off, his arm was sore both from being held awkwardly behind his back, and from exerting his strength, trying to make himself come while Lex was still inside him. 

 

Lex raised his shoulder slightly, and tilted his head to the side to meet it half way, before he ran what little of his face could reach onto his shoulder, wiping away the sweat that glistened on his flushed face. He slowed his thrusts for a moment, listening to Clark's rapid gasps, watching the teen's back rise and fall with his breathing, before shoving himself back inside of Clark, hard. Oh, that was wonderful, it suddenly felt so wet inside of Clark's ass, Lex let out a moan as he continued pumping himself into Clark's hole. 

 

Clark let go of his hair and tilted his head back with a deep moan as he came forcefully into his hand, splattering up onto his chest and down onto the floor underneath of him. Lex tightened his fingers around Clark's hips hard enough to bruise as the new wetness of Clark's ass clamped down around his cock, ripping his own orgasm out of him. Lex went still, except for a few involuntary thrusts of his hips as he rode out the aftershocks of his orgasm. Clark let his head drop back down onto his arm, closing his eyes and listening to his breathing slowly return to normal, as he felt Lex lean forward against him and press a quick kiss onto the back of his sweaty neck. 

 

He let out a sudden yelp of pain as Lex pulled out of him quickly, and not giving Clark a chance to move away, he bent down behind the teen and ran his tongue along the abused and quivering hole. Lex slipped his tongue inside, and sucked slightly, trying to get to the flavor of his cum mixed with Clark's taste into this mouth. All Clark could manage to do was give weak whimpers at the soft wet feel of Lex's tongue penetrating his sore hole. 

 

Lex pulled back when his warm cum began to ooze out of Clark's hole, he smirked as he leaned back in and lapped at the substance, frowning slightly and pulling back again as he watched a thin trail of his come seep out of the reddened hole. It was tinged a light pink color, and Lex leaned in to kiss the poor abused muscle before rubbing his hands over Clark's cheeks, equally pink from his hands squeezing and kneading. "Clark," he said, his voice a bit shaky from his breathing still not evened out yet, "I think you're bleeding." 

 

Clark's responce was an irritated groan and his breathing finally began to steady, his right arm brought down to lay with the left, his head pressed down onto them. He vaguely registered that Lex was pulling at his body, wanting him to stand up. "Come on," Lex said softly. Clark complied and stood weakly, his legs shaking slightly as he was guided over to the couch. He slumped down into the cushions as Lex left the room. 

 

Coming back with a soft plush towel, Lex kneeled down beside the couch and gently spread Clark's legs, wiping up the semi-bloody cum making its slow trickle out of his body. After shoving the towel under Clark's body, Lex sat on the couch beside him, his sweat slick skin starting to feel cool as his body returned to its normal state. Clark had thrown his head back against the couch and had his eyes shut, breathing slowly. Lex slipped his arm around Clark's back and brought his other hand up to the younger boy's face, brushing the damp strands of hair off of his forehead. 

 

Cupping his hand around Clark's warm cheek, Lex leaned over and pressed his lips to Clark's other cheek, giving him a soft kiss. As he pulled back, Lex noticed Clark's lips twitch a tiny bit. Trailing his hand down Clark's chest, running a finger through the drying cum there before easing his arm out from behind Clark and standing up. Making his way over to the bar in the far corner of the room, he made himself a drink. 

 

Clark opened his eyes and looked at the wall. He felt heavy, and weak, and Lex had said he was bleeding. He'd never bled before, and that sort of scared him. It was alright, though. He was fine. He shifted his weight slowly, wincing when he felt pressure against his ass. He heard soft footsteps as Lex came back to the couch. He'd put his underwear and pants back on and had a drink in hand. "So, you're feeling better, I assume?" He asked, finishing his drink and setting it down onto the coffee table before sitting down beside Clark. 

 

"Yeah," Clark said, leaning into Lex a bit, almost wanting to pull him back against the couch and snuggle up against him. He felt tense, and unsure of their relationship. It was so rough and dirty a moment ago, and now it was soft and caring. He knew he had wanted it, that's why he had let it happen, but he was just confused. He felt tense as Lex put his arm around his back again. He looked up at Lex and saw the question in his eyes, "I'm a bit worried about mom, though. I mean... I didn't really expect to be spending almost the whole day here when she's alone at home, and sad..." He trailed off and looked down at his hands in his lap. 

 

"Well, come on," Lex said, standing up and grasping one of Clark's hands, lifting it up as he stood. Clark looked up at him, slightly confused as to where he was going. "Let's go then," Lex continued, pulling an unresisting, if confused, Clark up from the couch. 

 

@>*~ 

 

After Clark had gotten dressed, Lex waiting impatiently by the door, keys in hand and looking casually bored, they made their way downstairs and back into the parking garage. Lex got into the car and unlocked the door for Clark, watching as the younger boy got into the seat. "How's your ass?" He asked, almost smirking. 

 

Clark looked at him, and let out a small laugh, "It's fine," he smiled lightly, shutting his door and fastening his seat belt. The rest of the drive out of the city was spent in silence, and it stayed that way until they were almost half way back to Smallville. 

 

Lex looked over at his friend, seeing him look almost sad as he stared blankly out of his window, watching the scenery blur past him. Reaching over to Clark's lap where his hands rested, he slid his fingers in between Clark's slack thumb and digits, pushing his hand into Clark's and holding onto it. Clark looked over when he felt the contact, just looking back at Lex, almost wanting to ask, 'Why?' Lex just smiled at him, and squeezed his hand. Clark smiled back. 

 

@>*~ 

 

When they returned to the Kent farm, Martha was in the living room with a cup of coffee, sipping on it while she watched the news. Hearing the door open, she set her cup down and made her way out to the kitchen. The first thing she noticed was the quietness between her son and his friend as they came into the house. She frowned slightly, but dismissed it as Clark still being upset. It had only been a day, you know. "How'd the meeting go, Lex?" She asked, moving to her son and pulling him into a comforting hug. 

 

Clark let himself be enveloped by the warmth of his mother's arms as Lex replied, sounding tired. Lex hadn't slept yet, he remembered, and he was starting to look worn down. He barely heard Lex's answer, just a low mumble of his voice was all that reached his ears before the older man excused himself from the room. Clark lifted his head off of his mother's shoulders and told her he was going to go to bed. He was tired and the last two days had been very stressful on him. 

 

Martha smoothed her hand over her son's hair as she said goodnight to Lex, and listened to his footsteps up the stairs. She felt Clark tense before he lifted his head, straightening himself, and announced he was going to hit the hay as well. She said goodnight again, and watched as Clark went upstairs. She sighed and went back into the living room, not wanting to push any conversation on them, they were visibly exhausted. 

 

@>*~ 

 

Lex sighed and sat down on the edge of his bed as he began to unbutton his shirt, not even looking up at the door when a soft knock sounded on the other side. "Come in," he said, pulling the shirt off of his shoulders and tossing it over to the dresser. The door opened slowly and Clark stepped into the room, closing the door behind him. 

 

"Hey," he said, standing just inside the room, his hands threatening to start playing with the hem of his shirt. Lex looked up at him and waited until Clark lifted his head to meet Lex's eyes. Lex gestured for Clark to come sit down beside him, and he slowly complied. Sidling up against the older man, Clark took a small breath before he began speaking. "I'm sorry I was angry earlier." 

 

Clark's voice was soft and Lex thought he was almost ashamed or embarassed for what had went on between them today. It was wrong of him to push himself abruptly on Clark, but he knew deep down they had both wanted it. They both wouldn't have been hard if they didn't, right? "It's alright, Clark," he accepted the apology, gently placing an arm around his friend's, his lover's, back. He hadn't actually meant to be so rough, he should have at least spent more time preparing, especially since it was Clark's first time. "Did... I hurt you?" He asked softly, unsure of what would happen between them now that it had happened. 

 

"No, I'm fine," Clark replied, almost too quickly. Yes, he had bled, but he wasn't too worried about it. Sore? A little bit, but it wasn't anything to worry about. Seeing as how it was the only sort of pain he'd endured without the meteor rocks around, he was still concerned about it, but he'd look into it more later. He had enough to worry about right now. "I just wasn't sure," he paused, looking up at Lex shyly, "About us, you know?" 

 

"Yeah," Lex felt almost bad for not reasurring Clark after it was all finished. He leaned in, intent on kissing away his lover's doubt of their relationship. His lips brushed against Clark's and the younger boy leaned into it, opening his mouth invitingly, and Lex took that invitation. Gently guiding Clark down onto the bed, kissing lightly over each other's faces, Lex pulled Clark's shirt off, tossing it over to join his own. Clark began to feel more secure with being with Lex, the gentleness that was absent before was back in full force, but it was not going to be used for any sexual activity tonight. Lex shifted them to pull the blanket out from under them, wrapping them in it and laying together, slowly drifting off to sleep. 

 

@>*~ 

 

Martha woke up at the same time she did every other day, no matter if her husband was with her or not; it was habit. She still had the farm and Clark to take care of. After getting dressed and making her way downstairs, she proceeded to prepare for the day like she normally did. It was mostly to give her something to take her mind off of everything that had recently happened in their lives. She was still emotionally distraught over it all, but she didn't have the luxury to dwell on it, and she had a job to do. 

 

She'd make sure to remember to call the school and let them know that Clark wouldn't be in for the next two days. He was still shook up over his father's murder, and she needed his help around the farm. Putting down the cup of coffee she'd made, she headed towards the stairs to go wake her son up. He'd went to bed and gotten to sleep a little later than usual and she knew that he'd probably over sleep. 

 

She walked quietly down the hall towards her son's room, stopping in front of the closed door and lightly knocking on it. When she didn't hear any noise from the other side, she slowly opened the door and peeked inside. She frowned at finding his room empty. She shook her head and closed the door again, thinking he may have gotten up early to start on his chores. 

 

@>*~ 

 

Clark opened his eyes sleepily and looked around the room, as much as he could without moving his head, at least. He knew it wasn't his room 'cause his old school stuff wasn't plastered all over the place, and this room was actually quite tidy. He yawned and stretched before sitting up in bed to rub the sleep from his eyes. He paused when he felt someone move beside him, brushing their leg up against his own. Clark turned his head to see that Lex was still asleep, but on the verge of waking also. 

 

Smiling, Clark leaned down and placed a soft kiss onto the top of Lex's head, and was promptly smacked in the face for his troubles. Starting to rub the spot out of habit more so then pain; he'd have ended up with a black eye if he had been human. Clearing his throat softly, Clark tapped his lover on the shoulder. Lex blinked his sleepy eyes and squinted, and looked up to find Clark smirking down at him. Rolling over so his back was towards Clark, and with his face half smushed into the pillow, he mumbled, "Wha time zit?" 

 

Clark turned to look at the alarm clock on the night stand, "Six in the morning." 

 

Lex groaned and pulled the pillow from underneath his head and plopped it on top instead. "It's too early to be awake. Give me three more hours," he said, not waiting for an answer before he was once again fast asleep. 

 

Clark playfully pushed down on the pillow over top of Lex's head, warranting another groan of displeasure. He rolled his eyes at his lover and got out of bed, leaving his lightly snoring boyfriend to continue sleeping. Picking up his shirt from where they had dropped it the night before, Clark walked to the door, opened and closed it behind himself as he returned to his own room to get ready for the day ahead of him. 

 

@>*~ 

 

Martha busied herself in the kitchen, starting their morning meal. Remembering not to make it for four people; back to three again. The wrong three. Not that she had any problem with Lex being there, she just missed her husband. She sighed and brought a glass of orange juice to the table, setting it down at Clark's usual spot. Her attention was drawn to the stairs when she heard footsteps coming down them. 

 

"Clark," she said, sounding thoroughly confused and surprised, "I thought you were outside." She watched as he crossed the room to the table, trying to pat his hair down against his head, looking like he had just gotten out of bed. 

"No, I just got up," he replied, grabbing the fresh glass of juice and lifting it to take a drink. She looked entirely too stunned for having witnessed him coming down from his room; that wasn't exactly shock worthy, in his book. "Morning, Mom," he said, waving at her for emphasis, drawing her out of her thoughts and wondering just what her thoughts were at that moment. 

 

Shaking her head slightly, she returned to the kitchen to grab the plates, handing them to Clark as he joined her. "I checked your room, to wake you up," she began. Clark slowed his walking, revelation dawning as he set the plates down onto the table and turned to look at his mother, who was looking back at him, concerned. "You weren't there." 

 

Clark looked to the floor, hoping it had the answers written all over it to make this conversation pass without any tension or misunderstanding. "I was in Lex's room," he confessed, knowing that honesty was the way to go with his mother. She wasn't blind, and the way she'd been around them lately, he was almost sure she thought there was something between them. 

 

"Did you have sex with him?" 

 

"Mom!" Clark said, glancing around, almost looking for a big hole to jump into. His mother had just point blankly asked him if he'd had sex, and only a room away from her at that. He felt a small blush creep up on him and he pushed the air out of his lungs in a huff of his breath, settling his eyes on the floor. 

She was standing with her arms crossed, looking at him sternly. Not because she was angry exactly, but because she was concerned. Wanting to know what was going on between them, she brought Clark's head up with her prompt, "Well?" 

 

Her voice was bordering on shaky as she asked, and Clark didn't want to lie to her. It wasn't as if they were exactly hiding their relationship with each other from her, just that they never acknowledged it. Okay, maybe they were hiding it. "Not last night," he said quietly, meeting her eyes. 

 

She nodded slightly, not wanting to pry into her son's new sex life, but he was still young and she needed to know; for safety reasons and for Clark's general well being. "When?" 

 

Clark told her that it was last evening, in Metropolis. He wasn't completely prepared for her next questions, but he knew his father's concerns about the Luthors and Lex weren't lost on his mother. "Did he force you? Did he hurt you?" She was serious, Clark could see, and he had to be honest with her. 

 

He couldn't be honest to many people, and he loved his mother. "Well, no," he began, tentative even with his decision made up to tell her. Sometimes it was hard for the words to come out. Martha's eyebrows began slowly edging towards each other in a displeased frown as she waited for Clark to finish. "But, I did bleed a little." 

 

He'd never seen his mother look so angry. He almost winced at her words before his brain registered that she was serious. "I'm going to kill him!" She started into a stalk towards the stairs and Clark moved around the table quickly to intercept her. 

 

"Mom, no," he said, moving to stand in her way instinctively, holding up his hands to stop her, "I healed up, I don't even feel anything now. It's okay." He looked at her pleadingly, and she looked back at him firmly before sighing and letting her brain take the lead instead of her emotions. Logically was the way to go about this. 

 

"Could it be something to do with your development?" She asked curiously as she stepped back, letting it go. It wouldn't be the first odd thing that happened to Clark and it certainly wasn't the strangest to date. She was sure it was nothing to worry about now. Mostly she was just concerned with how they handled their relationship and where it was going. 

 

"I don't know!" Clark said, putting a hand to his face and rubbing, hoping it would help his thoughts. He wasn't too keen on having this conversation with his mother. "This was..." He trailed off, before taking a deep breath and just deciding to say it. It was his mom, she was cool. She'd understand. "It was the first time I did it with a guy, maybe not *all* of me is invulnerable?" For all he knew it was just the breakage of his ass hymen or something similarily strange, he thought, clamping down the blush that threatened to heat his cheeks. He was *not* going to say that to his *mother*. 

 

Leaving it as a question, he looked to his mother, who wasn't looking as angry as she was a moment ago. She sighed, nodding her head, but the look in her eyes said that this was not the end of this conversation. She intended to speak with them both later on, but not right now. 

 

She was about to say just that, her mouth beginning to open when they were interrupted by a loud thump coming from the floor above them, followed by a muffled angry voice. Clark was unable to help the snort of laughter that bubbled up from inside him. His mother smiled, amused, and shook her head as she turned back to their breakfast.


	6. Part 6

Lex gave a weak cough from under the pillow smothering his head. He flung his arm out and knocked it away, breathing in deeply before groaning. God, why was he awake this early? Because Clark had woken him up. Damn Clark. He grumbled into the mattress and rolled himself over aggressively. Flailing his arms as he realized this bed wasn't as big as his own at the castle, he landed on the floor with a thump. "God damnit," he swore, moving onto his knees and climbing back onto the bed, sighing. He might as well get up now, he wasn't going to get back to sleep. 

 

Standing up from the bed, Lex picked his robe up from off the back of the chair and wormed his way into it. He opened his door, banging into the side of it before his balance decided to grace him with its presence, and walked out, heading towards the bathroom. Finished with his business there, he went back to his room to get dressed since he was now semi-awake and hungry. 

 

Clark looked up when he heard footsteps descending the stairs. He smiled brightly at his friend before a frown marred his features at the grunt he got in reply to his morning greeting. When Martha asked Lex what he wanted for breakfast all she got was a grunted out 'coffee.' 

 

Martha raised an eyebrow at Lex before complying, setting the cup of coffee down in front of him. He grabbed it and raised the rim to his lips, tipping it back and taking a long swallow, breathing the smell of the freshly brewed liquid. His eyes opened wider and a contented sigh escaped his lips. "Thank you, Martha." 

 

"You're welcome," she replied. Apparently coffee was Lex's miracle drug. 

 

Clark smiled before he finished his breakfast and stood up from his seat. "Lex," he called, as he walked towards the kitchen with his plate. "I've got chores to do this morning, but how about if you and me go to the Talon afterwards?" 

 

Lex blinked as he watched Clark's back, not quite awake yet, but enough to turn and look at his friend's mother. Martha saw the question in his eyes and smiled. "Go ahead. Caroline's coming over again today to help with a few things, so I won't need you two around. I'll be fine," she said, taking a bite of her own breakfast. 

 

"Alright. How long will you be, Clark?" He asked, setting his cup on to the table. Glancing down into it he realized he'd need a refill soon. 

 

Clark frowned thoughtfully as he thought it over. "About an hour. Then I'll have to get cleaned up afterwards. Is that okay?" 

 

Lex nodded. "That's fine. It'll give me time to look at my emails and such." Clark nodded and made his way out of the house. 

 

@>*~ 

 

When they arrived at the Talon, Lex glanced around the crowded coffee shop for an empty table. Clark scanned the front to see where Lana was located; he wanted to say hello to her before sitting with Lex. He paused in his search when he spotted Lana leaning over the far corner of the counter, talking to Whitney. He raised an eyebrow as he saw the blatant way she was flirting with her ex boyfriend, or was he now her boyfriend once again? 

 

He didn't watch long to find out when Lex grabbed hold of his shirt and practically dragged him to the table he found in the back corner. One of the waitresses saw Clark's look in the direction of the service area, and smiled at him. Lex surreptitiously let go of Clark's shirt, but still kept a commanding presence beside the younger man to make sure he came along. 

 

Clark fell into the seat across from Lex, and wanted to call his boyfriend a 'meanie,' but he didn't. They sat for a moment before the waitress caught up to them, asking what they wanted. Lex placed his order, and helpfully prompted Clark to mumble his to the girl. Every once in a while, Clark's gaze would stray off to the side as he looked back to the counter, back to Lana. He'd have to have a talk with her later about what was going on with her and Whitney. They had been acting strange ever since he got back. 

 

Lex frowned at Clark, who's attention kept drifting to the front of the coffee shop. He wasn't really mad or anything, he was just annoyed that he'd been trying to talk to Clark, and his lover hadn't really been paying much attention. Sighing heavily to himself, he cleared his throat which finally broke Clark's gaze on Lana. "You know, Clark. There are other people present." 

 

Clark turned his head at the sound of Lex's voice, letting his eyes latch onto the blue eyes that were looking a bit annoyed with him. He frowned slightly, pulling his eyebrows together. "Huh?" 

 

A slight shadow fell over the table as the waitress returned with their cups. They both looked up and thanked her, and Clark was still a bit unfocused on the things immediately around him. Lex wondered what he was thinking about; hopefully his lover wasn't jealous that the fairy princess had seemingly got back together with her prince. 

 

After the interruption, Lex sighed at the eloquent response and gestured vaguely towards the front of the Talon. "I was trying to talk to you, but it seems there are far more interesting things for you to focus your attention on," Lex said, placing his hands onto the table top and looked very unamused. 

 

"Lex," Clark said, disregarding Lex's faint jealous tone and bringing out the reason why he was watching Lana so attentively. Lex looked expectantly at Clark before he continued, hoping he wouldn't get a lame excuse. "Don't you think Lana's been acting a bit strange since Whitney came back?" Clark asked, his eyebrows reaching for each other a bit more. 

 

Lex looked taken aback, he had been ready to be a little bit pissed off with Clark for staring at the girl and now he felt a bit sheepish for doubting his boyfriend. He should know Clark was over Lana now, or maybe Clark was having second thoughts about their relationship? No, he wasn't. Lex collected his thoughts, putting them back on track, a more thoughtful look settling on him before he spoke. 

 

"Haven't spent too much time in her company since the quarterback returned," Lex said, raising his mug to his mouth and taking a sip. "But if I think about... Yeah, I think she has. Just a bit more," Lex paused, squinting his eyes as he looked for the words, "Edgy and distant?" 

 

Clark nodded after hearing the words, considering them being applied to Lana's recent behavior. "I wonder why," Clark said, picking up his cup. He tasted the sweetness of the mocha he'd ordered, and looked down into the fluffy bubbles on top before he set it back down. "I should talk to her." 

 

Lex should have known that was coming, but by the time he thought to open his mouth, Clark and one of his famous adrenaline spurts, had the teen up and on his way to the counter. Sighing, Lex leaned back with coffee in hand and watched Clark confront his two friends. 

 

Clark sidestepped between people on his way to the front counter, and managed a small wave in Whitney's direction. He seemed to notice because he started to pull back from Lana, and a small frown began to form on his features. Lana frowned as well when she saw the look on Whitney's face, and she turned to see what he was looking at. The frown faded, but the concern was still there as she turned to Clark with a sympathetic smile. "Hey, Clark. What's up?" 

 

"Came to get a refill," he said, holding his partially empty cup up as evidence and smiling back. Lana took the cup obligingly from Clark and moved to walk to the far end of the counter where the gateway to behind was located. Whitney's eyes stayed on Lana and to Clark it seemed his focus was on the cup, before she was behind too many people, and Whitney leaned back against the counter. 

Clark leaned his side against the counter as well, falling into an almost uncomfortable silence. "I heard what happened to your dad," Whitney said, breaking the silence between them in the noisy cafe. "I'm sorry, Clark," Whitney said, looking back over to the other man, and frowning thoughtfully. 

 

Clark looked up, surprised. He knew he shouldn't be, everyone knew what happened, and it was natural to offer condolences. He looked at Whitney for a moment before replying. "Thanks, Whitney." Whitney nodded slightly, not really knowing what else to say. He turned slightly, onto more of a slant towards Clark as the younger man continued. "We still haven't found who did it, since the police say there was no way he could have done it himself." 

 

"They actually thought it could have been suicide?" Whitney asked incredulously, raising his eyebrows and laying his hand on the surface of the counter. He knew the Kents and even with all the hardship the family has had in the past, he didn't think Jonathan Kent would take his own life like that. At the look on Clark's face at his blunt question, he felt a little bit guilty for saying it the way he did and he absently tapped a finger on the counter. 

 

Clark shrugged his shoulders almost carelessly. "They doubt it, but they haven't completely ruled it out. I mean," Clark paused to take a breath. "I know my father would never do something like that, but there's always the possibility." Fighting back a frown of confusion, Clark watched his friend's sudden withdrawal from conversation with him. Whitney looked back uncomfortably and cleared his throat, looking off behind the counter to find Lana. 

 

"So," Clark said, shifting to more pleasant grounds, "Are you and Lana together again?" Well, no so much pleasant, but not too terribly disturbing. He hoped Whitney understood that, while maybe Clark once had a crush on the girl, he wouldn't usurp on Whitney's territory. The older man frowned slightly at the question, and Clark turned and leaned over the counter to get a better look at him. 

 

"I don't know, Clark," he said, his voice not as confident as it was a moment ago, sounding almost agitated. Lana was speaking to some girls from school at the other end of the bar and had just been shooed back to work. "With everything that's happened so far," Whitney continued, starting to hurry when he realized that Lana would be coming back soon. "I didn't really put much thought to it. Why?" 

 

"Just wondering," Clark answered. He could sense the unwelcome tone from Whitney's voice that was being directed at him and he decided he should just drop his little investigation for the time being. Lana had finished topping off Clark's cup and was on her way over, smiling at the two boys. 

 

"Here you go, Clark. And some extra chocolate sprinkles just for you," she winked at him sweetly and continued smiling. Clark didn't want to risk a glance up at Whitney that moment for fear that the older boy would take it as flirting. Lana was pretty flirty, but she just saw it as being nice; and so did he, but Whitney might not. Leaning down onto the counter, close to Whitney like before, she looked at Clark. "Is Lex here? I thought I saw his head," Lana asked, almost with a giggle. 

 

Clark had to chuckle at that, and silently thanked Lana for the out she gave him so he wouldn't seem rude by just leaving abruptly. "Yeah, he's over there," Clark nodded his head back in the direction of his and Lex's table. "I guess I should get back." 

 

"Yeah," Lana said, "See you later, Clark." Clark said good-bye to Lana, and watched Whitney's face before he turned to leave. He was almost holding a defensive stance, and the frown was back, accented by the random tapping of his fingers on the counter. He kept his eyes on them peripherally as he made his way back to the table, and saw Lana grab Whitney's hand, flattening her own over top of his, and stilling his fingers. 

 

Clark looked fully ahead, seeing Lex watching him, and he frowned slightly, but he still wanted to laugh at the irritated look on his boyfriend's face. Okay, it wasn't nice to laugh at someone else's discomfort, but he looked so darn cute. Clark set his cup down before he slid back into his seat, dipping a finger into the fresh whip cream on top and reaching out very quickly to dab it onto Lex's lips. "Sorry I took so long," Clark apologized, grinning. 

 

Lex's eyes widened at the wet splotch of Clark's finger hit his lips, and his hand and tongue automatically reached up to cover and remove the evidence of affection. "Clark!" Lex almost hissed, but dismissing it as Clark trying to lighten the mood. It wouldn't be too good of a thing to be outed in the middle of the Talon as them both being gay, and dating each other no less. Apparently no one had seen, so Lex just leveled a glare, promises of revenge tugging at his smirk, and asked, "So?" 

 

"Not much," Clark said, shaking his head. "He didn't seem like he was all there, you know, when I was asking him about his relationship with Lana." Clark stopped for a moment; Lana and Whitney's relationship had always been weird, even before all of the recent events. They couldn't be serial killers, could they? 

 

"Well," Lex began, leaning forward a bit so his voice wouldn't carry over to the couple in question. "I doubt he'd outright say if he and Lana were back together or not. I know I wouldn't appreciate the questioning." Lex sat back again, picking up his cup and taking a slow drink from it while he watched Clark curiously. 

 

Clark looked at him seriously for a moment before looking into his cup and taking one last gulp of his coffee. He set the cup down, and got up from his seat, poised to leave. Lex's look changed to slight confusion; had he been left out of some plans, here? "Where are you going?" 

 

"I have more chores I need to get finished for mom," Clark answered, taking a step away from the table. When Lex didn't make an immediate move to get up, Clark asked, "Coming?" He wanted to hold out his hand, but after the previous whip cream incident, he really didn't think Lex would laugh at it. With a fake sigh of annoyance to counter the smirk on Clark's face, Lex stood up from his seat and followed Clark out of the Talon and towards his car. 

 

@>*~ 

 

Lana placed the last of the day's receipts in her desk when she was finished with the job. Getting up from her chair, she stretched before she made her way out of the office and out to the main area of the Talon. She smiled when she found Pete and a few of his classmates still at one of the tables near the counter. "Hey, Pete," she said as she walked over to them, "You guys about ready to call it a night?" 

 

Pete heard footsteps approaching, and finished what he was saying before turning around and finding Lana finished with her work. He turned back to the table when Lana was at his side, and set his cup down, smiling back at his friend. "Yeah," he confirmed. "Actually, we've been ready for about thirty minutes, but we didn't want to disturb you." 

 

"Sorry," Lana chuckled, "We had more business today than I thought." Pete nodded and reached for his jacket that was sitting on the empty seat beside him, while the students across from him did the same. Lana quickly went back and grabbed hers from the coat stand for the staff before she caught up to the group. They were already at the door, waiting for her, and she turned the lights off and they all ventured outside. 

 

Closing the door behind herself, she made sure it was locked, and then turned to face the cool autumn air. Pete's friends were already starting to discuss what they were going to do now, and Pete turned to Lana when he noticed she wasn't in on the conversation. "Hey," he said, drawing her attention. "You coming with us, or going home? I can give you a ride, if you are." 

 

She took a deep breath, contemplating his offer, but she declined. "Nah, I'll walk," she said, looking up at the evening sky. "I need some air, I think. Thanks, though." 

 

"Always here to help," Pete responded with a smile, and reluctantly turned away from his friend, not wanting her to really go alone. Smallville didn't have very high crime rates, especially in this area of town, but just the fact that Lana had lost yet another parental figure in her life, he didn't think she should really be by herself. He had wanted some time to himself after Chloe's death, he supposed it was the same; too much can be bad, though. 

 

Lana buttoned up her coat, and crossed her arms across herself as she began on her way home. It was quiet except the rustle of some scattered leaves, and the distant chattering of Pete's friend's, which was drawing fainter as she progressed down the sidewalk. She took another deep breath; she liked walking when she had the chance to do so. There wasn't any school the next day, so she could take her time and enjoy the evening. 

 

Pete followed after his school mates, though he felt compelled to give supervisory glances back in her direction. He decided to look for the last time, before they turned around the corner, thinking he was being silly for watching. He frowned as he saw not one, but two figures on the sidewalk on the other side of the Talon. Pausing in his steps, Pete squinted his eyes to try and make out who it was. Once his eyes had become accustomed to gazing that far in the distance, the second figure began to take familiar form, and Pete sighed. 

"Pete?" A friend called to him after noticing the boy wasn't quite caught up with them. Pete acknowledged, and turned back to his friends. It was too far away to call out a greeting without being incoherent, and he didn't have to worry anyway; he knew who the person was. 

 

It wasn't too long before Lana was lost in a daze of her thoughts concerning everything that had happened in the last few weeks. She walked almost blindly down the sidewalk, but something strange, almost not even there, brought her attention back to reality. Her pace slowed, and she felt the urge to look behind herself. Giving in, she turned her head, catching a glimpse of a few figures turning the corner; Pete and his friends. 

 

The feeling faded, and she continued on her way, but only a minute later, the strange presence had returned. This time she quickened her steps, only to be matched by, indeed, someone following her. Panic began to brew in her chest, and she threw a much quicker glance behind her, seeing no one. Her steps had veered to the side when she looked away, and she found herself a few feet into an alley. 

 

She kept her eyes on the street, backing into the alley, hoping to hide from whomever was tailing her, or at least see them walk by. Maybe it was just her imagination running wild? There had been a lot of things to make one suspicious of everything lately. Turning her steps to bring her back against the wall of the building on one side of the alley, she gasped in surprise when she collided with a soft, warm body. 

 

She whipped herself around, her frantic eyes searching the face of her assailant, and letting out a sigh of relief when recognition kicked in. "Hey," she said aggressively, accented by a playful smack to her friend's shoulder. 

"You scared me," she pouted cutely, "What are you doing here?" 

 

"Nothing, really," a shrug, and almost a swaggering step forward, toward Lana. "I just wanted to test a theory of mine," was said, features smirking openly at her. 

 

"Oh?" Lana pursed her lips, thinking for a moment. Unsure and just a little confused, she looked up at her pseudo stalker. "What theory?" 

 

"This one," came the reply, as a hand brushed up the buttons on Lana's jacket, flipping the top two undone. She looked stunned, but didn't protest. "I was just wondering," misleadingly comfortable was the tone, and eerily seductive as she stood still, becoming shocked and scared. "What type of sounds you'd make as I squeezed the life out of you," the face of her soon-to-be killer leaned in close, finishing off in a hair-raising hoarse whisper. 

 

Finding her voice, she let out a startled breath in astonishment. "What," she began, but before she could form any other words, silky, cold fingers slipped around her throat. A firm pad of a thumb pressed slowly into her larynx, combined with the slow squeeze coming from both sides of her neck, restricting her airways. It took her a moment to respond, being too much in shock, but she was soon attempting to grasp for air, and clawing desperately at the hands around her throat, trying to remove herself from the viscious hands who only kept constricting. 

 

A grim but amused smile kept onto the face before her, the last one she'd ever see, and soon, a second thumb joined the first, and added twice the pressure onto the fragile organ, slowly collapsing it's muscles and tissue; and finally crushing it completely. Lana's fingers gripped hard enough to make her knuckles turn white as she was let go abruptly, clinging to her murderer. Eyes that screamed 'why?' when nothing else could looked up into a now expressionless face, and she let out a cough, spitting up blood enough to ooze down her chin, before she lost her grip and slipped down to land in a heap on the pavement. 

 

An indrawn breath was the last sound in the alley as a remorseful silence seemed to creep up on it, and descending footsteps were the last thing Lana Lang heard. It took all her effort to close her eyes, hoping to will the pain away, wake up from a bad dream, or to surface from the water and gasp in a deep breath to continue on living. The pain stopped, and she felt a moment of calm before her heart simply gave up.


	7. Part 6.5

An indrawn breath was the last sound in the alley as a remorseful silence seemed to creep up on it, and descending footsteps were the last thing Lana Lang heard. It took all her effort to close her eyes, hoping to will the pain away, wake up from a bad dream, or to surface from the water and gasp in a deep breath to continue on living. The pain stopped, and she felt a moment of calm before her heart simply gave out. 

 

@>*~ 

 

Such a trusting soul, she was; made it too easy. All it took was a supposed caring gesture to let my hands wrap around her throat... Voila, no more Lana. I hid her body in the dumpster. Mustn't let anyone find her too soon. I was too careless last time; almost got caught. Not this time. Oh, no. I've grown with each death, they've made me smarter. I know they're still laughing at me; all of them. I can hear them; no one cares about me. No one! I'll show them. I'll show them all who I really am! They won't fuck with me any longer. 

 

@>*~ 

 

Lex was slightly nodding his head in time with the beat of the music he had playing as he turned down the street of his destination. He wasn't paying too much attention to his surroundings; he had been having a good day and nothing had jumped up to bite him in the ass to put him in a bad mood, but it looked like that was about to change. Lex frowned as he pulled into one of the many empty parking spaces near the Talon and got out of his car. 

 

Taking off his sunglasses before slamming the car door shut, the frown deepened, and he stalked towards the door of the Talon. He looked at the outside windows for any sign or notice as to why it seemed to not be servicing the public, and he saw none. He went to pull the door open, but was rewarded with a sore shoulder from the hard tug he'd assailed the door with, the uselessly locked door. He groaned angrily and dug into his pocket for his keys. He had to open the Talon up in the morning sometimes when Lana couldn't do it before school, so he had a key for the door on his regular keychain. 

 

Unlocking the door, he pulled it open roughly and proceeded into the deserted coffee shop. There looked to have been no one in there the entire day and he didn't find any notes telling him why. Where the fuck was Lana? Lex shook his head and pursed his lips. This is what he got for trusting a self absorbed, whiny teenage girl; maybe he'd have to rethink their business arrangement. Although she may have done a good job with the little cafe for ninety percent of the time, her faults with it would cost her dearly. 

 

He'd only came down the street to grab a couple coffee's for him and Clark. He was done any work for the day, or so he thought, and was going to pick Clark up after school. He was fifty/fifty on whether he was glad or not to have came down the street. He couldn't really do much about it at the moment, so he supposed he should just lock the door again, put a note on the window temporarily before he found Lana, and found out what was going on. 

 

Lex sighed and glanced at the clock behind the counter. Shit. He lifted his wrist and pushed back his sleeves to reveal his watch. Yeah, shit. He had to get going if he was to pick Clark up from school. 

 

Friday afternoon, Clark and Pete were outside of the high school, walking away from the toil of classes for the day. As they were on their way to Pete's car, they heard a faint screech, followed by the roar of an expensive engine before seeing Lex speed his way up, and swing his car aggressively into the spot just in front of Pete's car. Pete cringed, afraid for his car's well-being, and Clark chuckled at him. Pete made a face at him. 

 

They continued their way towards the two cars, watching as Lex got out, and ripped his sunglasses off before speaking. "Where the hell is Lana?" He spat out, the question directed at the two teens before him. 

 

"Oh, hey, Lex. I'm fine, thanks for asking," Clark said, amused. 

 

"Clark, I'm serious," Lex said, sounding exasperated. "I just had to open the Talon." 

 

Clark frowned, then decided he should answer Lex's question, seeing the serious look on his boyfriend's face. "I only have a class with her on Wednesday," Clark said, shrugging, "And I didn't see her today." 

 

Lex looked expectantly at Pete, whose mouth opened and was stuck like that for a moment, before he actually spoke. "I knew she had a spare first period," Pete added, "But I didn't see her later than that either." Pete was a bit stunned, because as much as he wanted to say he hates Luthors, and won't take any of their shit after what they did to his family, he was, admittedly, a bit scared of what Lex could actually do to him. 

 

Pete looked up at Clark, and Clark looked back. Both giving each other speculative looks; surely one of them would have seen Lana throughout the school, right? They didn't say anything, but just looked faintly appeased with the other and turned back to Lex, who received a shrug and a head shake. 

 

"Uh... Yeah... I'll see you later, Clark," Pete said, feeling a bit uncomfortable. 

 

"Okay," Clark said, still watching Lex, who was almost pacing back and forth, seemingly very frustrated. Pete turned and walked around the front of his car, subtly checking for any scrapes before he got inside and pulled out of the space, giving a wave at Clark before he drove away.


End file.
